A Genesis And A Revelation: Legacy Of the Phoenix
by Phoenix Helix
Summary: Heart of a dragon soul of a phoenix.... Venture into my longest and most indepth fanfic! Read on and review!
1. Prologue

**A Genesis and a Revelation **

**The Legacy of the Phoenix **

**By Phoenix Helix **

**And Arcbus **

I'm here with my first serious fan fiction, this one a crossover between some of the games from the Final Fantasy series along with the Legacy of Kain series and other series of games and stuff. I've undertaken extreme measures and mental notes in all the games so far to make sure that this fanfic is both in line with the actual games and to make you the readers see my own twists to them. As always I own none of the rights for any of the characters except for my own new characters. Square Enix, Eidos interactive and the other respective corporations and what not own the rest. As for the content you be the judges as this fanfic has literally taken me ten years (no joke) to just plan out. I just want to know what you people think about my first serious story, which I hope you'll reveal in your reviews.

I must also announce that most of the story's main storyline has been discussed between me and my assistant Arcbus, whom I must thank deeply for writing this fic out in a story format.

Also being written by yours truly is a fanfic called 'Ideas that came to me during the creation of A Genesis and a revelation the Legacy of the phoenix', it contains ideas based for this fanfic. I thought I'd write it for those of you who like deep plots to fanfics. Well that's enough from me let us begin the story…

**Prologue: Our Introduction **

Above the gathered crowd seven people in a realm so unlike our own; a winged figure with long firey red, golden and silver hair, weilds a unique sword while surrounded by seven different coloured gemstones. this 'being' turns and faces a being just as omnipotent and divine. however glowing so much brighter. the fate of this realm and all others depends on the outcome of this standoff...

_'Here's a story for you... Kinda hard to believe, I know, but this is more than just a story... _

_Yes, indeed it all began that very morning...' _

In an instant the winged being glows with a furious aura and unleashes a blast of immense energy...

- - - - -

Chris sharply wakes up to the beginning of a new day. The sun is shining in his eyes; as the youth gets up he's still somewhat half asleep.

Sleepily, he mumbles, "I've gotta do something about that..."

He gets out from the top of his bunk bed - something that the youth doesn't want to do at eight in the morning. But then, as soon as he gets down, he trips on the last bar of the ladder.

Getting up definitely isn't Chris's favourite time of the morning...

"Ow..." Chris groans discouragingly.

Five minutes pass, and Chris makes his way downstairs wearing a black tank top, black pants, and dark boots. He's now fully awake, and ready to practise his guitar rifts.

Chris flicks a switch and three amps on along with numerous speakers, each one the same height, and the youth comes to life. Having turned on the amps, he picks up his beloved guitar and starts to play powerful and technical rifts, however, he then decides to place the volume up to full power. Chris plays a high rift, however, the amps suddenly blow the fuse, all the speakers, and themselves up in the process; Chris is thrown forward and he lands face first right on the carpeted floor.

"Argh..." He grumbles with a smirk. "Too... Much... Power...!"

He pulls himself up quickly, and then begins to clean up pieces of metal and wood. As he does so, his eyes suddenly catch a glimpse of a blank red CD, to which he begins to examine it.

"Hmm, where'd this come from?" Chris asked himself, walking over to the TV. "Don't remember buying this thing... Oh well."

He switches the Playstation 2 on, and puts the disc into the slot, wondering just what exactly could be on it. The moment the disc draw closes, the TV screen glows the same shade of red as the disc's colour... But what shocks Chris is the message that suddenly shows up on the screen.

_It is time for you to become who you once were... _

_And thus restore order to the worlds. _

Chris reacts with a muddled look on his face, "What the hell? Sacred one? Hey, I'm nothing special... HEY!"

He is cut off as he is suddenly pulled into the television by some unknown force, resisting as he does. There's nothing he can do. He is pulled into the crimson screen, and then, everything goes black...

...Until...

"What the...!?" Yells Chris in shock.

He stands on the edge of a cliff, and below the view is a colossal fortress-like city centred in a vast grassland.

"H-How'd I end up outside _Midgar_!!" He asks himself. "This place is just a game!!"

He drops himself to his knees, peering over the edge of the cliff at the city, before he looks behind him as he hears something. When he looks up, he sees a shapeless entity.

"I believe the game is called _Final Fantasy VII_ in your realm? Well, this is no dream, neither is it make believe." The entity speaks, somehow. "I have brought you here to complete your destiny..."

"My _destiny_!!" Chris thunders. "What does DESTINY have to do with this place!!"

'_The whole idea that a game was key to fufiling my 'destiny' was completly absurd_

_and i was one to believe almost anything... but this... was so much to take in all at once...'_

The Mass simply hovers infront of the teenager who pulls himself to his feet again. It pauses for a moment, and then it continues, "Your destiny shall be revealed, all in good time, young one. For now, take these..."

The space around Chris and the Mass appears to swirl, and when it stops, a sword quite like a guitar with it's neck as the blade appears, sticking in the ground. The Guitar Sword has a hidden hilt behind the base, allowing the user to wield the sword with ease. The blade covers the neck from tip to base, yet it appeared it could be played as an instrument.

Slowly, Chris picks up the sword, and is suprised at how easily he does so.

_'So light, so easy to use... _

_It was amazing actually holding a weapon I had once drawn and imagined one day of owning... _

_In this respect, at least the being had not lied... _

_However, I still chose to tread carefully as the coincidence of my own_

_imaginary weapon appearing out of nowhere seemed too convient...' _

Chris raises his weapon and throws a few practise slices through the air with it, and finds it perfect for his style of fighting.

"I suppose I should thank you." He says to the entity. "But what do you want in return? I didn't bring any money with me..."

"That is not a problem." The Mass replies. "I was simply doing this in accordance to the orders that my Master gave me."

Chris tilted his head and enquires, "Master?"

The Mass doesn't reply, but instead continues, "I have faithfully fufilled my task... Unless you wish for another weapon, of course."

Looking downwards, Chris notices a variety of weapons that have mysteriously appeared behind where he had removed the Guitar Sword from and he notices a set of gauntlets and greaves. The tops of the gauntlets have three inward curves in which to place something round in them...

_'They'll be good for hand-to-hand combat...' _Chris thinks to himself, taking them and putting them on his wrists and shins.

Another thing Chris now notices are various different coloured spheres.

"Materia?" He says, intrigued.

"Right you are." Explains the Mass. "You can, as you should already know, carry them in the slots in your sword and gauntlets. You may carry three in each gauntlet, and four in your Guitar Sword. Take Materia that you think may help you."

Chris takes a look at the selection and chooses Fire, Ice, Lightning and Cure Materia to put in the four slots of his sword.

_'Luckily I knew which Materia to choose... _

_All those times playing the game had taught me a few things about the magical orbs... _

_Placing these four pieces of Materia into my sword allowed me to perform four types of magic... _

_And over time, the types of magic I could use would increase...' _

Chris then decides to choose attribute Materia - two HP-plus Materia, to improve his health and two MP-plus Materia to improve his magic power, leaving two slots remaining - one in each of the gauntlets.

"I think that'll do." He says quitely. "I might get lucky and find more, or perhaps I could buy some more..."

"Fair enough, young one." The Mass finally says. "Farewell, and good luck..."

As Chris looks back at the entity, it disappears.

"HEY! WAIT!!" Chris shouts, but he is now left alone, outside of Midgar. The teen quickly slots the new Materia into his gauntlets' slots, straps the Guitar Sword to his back with the strap, and begins to head down the cliff.

After a while, he mangages to get off the hilly cliff, and begins walking.

_'Alone now, I looked at my surroundings... _

_There wasn't much point for me to just sit there on the cliff and do nothing in the hope that the mysterious being would ever return... _

_I figured that I might as well find my own way and enjoy being in the game I had always dreamed about being a part of... _

_I guess dreams really do come true... _

_To the north was the city of Midgar: capital of the Shinra Corporation... _

_To the south-west of me was the small town of Kalm... _

_If I knew the game as well as I thought I did then perhaps my 'destiny' would start in the so-called glorious city of Midgar... _

_But first I thought a change of name wouldn't hurt...' _

**So there we are; the prologue, which has been rewritten from a script format that I made into a story format by Arcbus. I promise the fanfic really gets good promise!**

**Oh and for those who don't know what greaves are: they're kinda like Gauntlets but you strap them to your shins and boots…**

**Well read and review ladies and gentlemen!!**


	2. Chapter 1: A new quest

**Chapter One: A New Quest**

Chris grins, "I am Sparda..."

Sparda, formally known as Chris, now heads into Midgar to begin his journey for the answers he seeks. After roughly five minutes of walking and fighting two monsters on the way, Sparda reaches the main gates of Midgar. To no surprise, they're closed - and with the size of the youth in comparison to the great metal doors, he hasn't the ability to move them.

_'Just as I began my journey I had already come to a dead end... _

_The gates of Midgar were locked... _

_What a love of huge gates the power-hungry Shinra had... _

_But there **had **to be another way inside...' _

Sparda looks all around, for a way to get inside the city; he's in luck that there is a hole in the fencing, just big enough to get through, undeniable proof someone had already got into the city through it... Or _escaped_... Without much thought the youth enters the city, and looks around to see the world of the game, in the flesh.

"So, this is Midgar, eh?" He says to himself, noticing the surroundings. "This must be Sector Five, because there's the church... Perhaps Aeris might be there."

Sparda heads to the tiny wooden church but just as he opens the door, he freezes, to hear the sound of gunfire... And a scream. Quietly, he slides the door open, to find a fallen flowerbed and a trail of footprints.

"So, Reno must be here too..." He says silently, analysing said state of the church. "I wonder if he ever _will _catch holy hell..."

He smiles weakly at his poor attempt of a joke as he heads past the altar to the room in the back. He then looks through the door to find Reno, a guy in a dark blue suit with red hair in a ponytail, and some generic Shinra soldiers, shooting at a woman in a light pink dress and with a long brunette plait above them, trying to escape as fast as she could. Sparda recognises her right away.

_'And there was the legendary Aeris Gainsborough, one of the most remembered names in gaming history... _

_...And to think, I saw her right there - for real - in front of my own two eyes! _

_Perhaps if I played my cards right, I could meet up with her and the rest of the group, and save the planet from Sephiroth... _

_...Maybe they were the key to my destiny... _

_...And perhaps then, I could go home...' _

Sparda crouches in the corner, and picks up a pebble from the aged floor. He throws it past Reno and the soldiers; it crashes through a window, providing a distraction as the trigger happy guards fall for it. Seizing his chance, the sly youth runs quitetly past the guards. When the woman - Aeris - stops periodically to notice him, he puts his finger to his lips to tell her to keep quiet. She obeys, allowing Sparda to sneak up the stairs, grab her by the arm, and lead her up the winding escape route to where a young man with a spiked blonde hair wearing navy-coloured gear waited for her. Meanwhile, the dim-witted soldiers, along with Reno, are still trying to find what distracted them.

While the three make their escape as fast as possible, the Shinra group only just realise it was a trick, and Reno is quite upset about it.

Frustrated, he yells, "You IDIOTS! Who told you to look for what that sound was?"

The soldiers look at eachother dully, then at Reno, and shrug their shoulders.

"ARRGH!" Reno groans aloud. Annoyed, he kicks a small, beat-up ball from the floor; it bounces onto the nearby wall and rebounds and hits him on the back of the head. Whilst he heads back into the chapel, the soldiers retort, rolling about laughing.

All that is heard from the chapel is a low 'Grrrr!' and the sound of the doors slamming shut and almost flying off their hinges.

Meanwhile, on the top of the church, through the opened top, Sparda, Aeris, and the blonde guy are sitting on some rubble that was probably once part of the church's roof, relieved that they had avoided capture.

The blonde observed Sparda for a moment, and then spoke up, "Guess we owe you thanks."

"Well, Cloud, I..." Sparda replied modestly.

"How do you know my name?" The blonde, 'Cloud', interjected, suspicious.

Sparda thought sharply on his toes. "I-I heard this young woman calling your name when those guys were chasing her."

_'I had to be careful with my words... _

_I knew the names of all the characters in the game, however, they didn't know me at all... _

_I was lucky to think of an excuse so quickly, but I'd have to be careful from that point onwards...' _

Cloud buys the excuse and accepts it as a fluke, as he stretched out and relaxed back on the roof. "Fair enough."

"Thank you for helping me out back there." Aeris says, smiling at Sparda, before her expression drained. "Ah, they were after me again..."

"After you again, Aeris?" Cloud asks, astounded.

The two of them begin a conversation, whilst Sparda leans against the church's chimney, looking off into the murky distance of the lower Midgar.

_'Not only had I come across Aeris, but Cloud as well... _

_Incredible! I was actually here with two of the most well-known characters in the whole gaming world! _

_As this was truly real, I knew all the events that were intended to happen to these people...' _

Sparda now moves his vision to Aeris...

_'Aeris, the last of the Ancient race: the Cetra... _

_...When she prays for Holy, Sephiroth will descend from behind and kill her for interfering with his plan to summon Meteor...' _

And then to Cloud...

_'And Cloud being made a helpless puppet will fall under Sephiroth's control... _

_And will allow him to summon Meteor by bringing back the black Materia to where the unstoppable warrior sleeps in the NorthernCave... _

_And then after becomes lost in his own subconsciousness... _

_Tifa would need to help him to become his own self again... _

_Perhaps if I made the right moves, I could prevent Aeris's death and stop Sephiroth from causing great harm to this world...' _

Sparda is broken from his trail of thoughts by Aeris shaking his shoulder briskly.

"Hey? Hey? Are you alright?" She asks.

Dazed, Sparda stutters a reply, "Hmm, w-what?"

He shakes his head, realising he has been too deep within his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry Miss, got a little tired..."

"Hey..." She says in response, winking. "Call me Aeris."

Sparda blushes slightly, as Aeris flicks her long, braided hair behind her back, before continuing.

"And, who might you be?"

"The name's Sparda." He replies. "It's... Really good to meet you, Aeris."

"Aww, such a charmer!" She smiles playfully, and leans forward and kisses Sparda on the cheek, causing him to blush further.

With the same cold expression, Cloud begins to speak up.

"So, do you have anywhere you need to go?" He asks Sparda, who is still flushed.

"Erm, no, not really." He answers.

Cloud has already begun to climb a tiny mountain of rubble to a path leading down from the roof of the chapel.

"Well, you can come with us, if you want." He offers. "Providing you don't blush in front of Aeris again."

Aeris stands with her hands on her waist and scolds him playfully.

"Oh, Cloud, don't be mean! You're just jealous that he got a kiss and you didn't!" She says, before turning back to Sparda, smiling warmly. "You're welcome to come if you want, Sparda."

Again, she turns, and follows Cloud down the path he had taken.

"Hey! Hold up!" Sparda calls, before following, too.

_'They seemed nice enough... _

_Ha, I knew them better than they knew themselves, so I knew I could place a certain amount of trust in them... _

_ But what would happen next would be the true changing part of my story...' _

It doesn't take them long to finally get down the heap of rubble, but as soon as they do, they're attacked by a creature...

_BATTLE_

The creature is a house shaped monster called 'Hell House', a solo enemy. As three on one seems easy enough, Sparda, Cloud and Aeris are ready to fight.

The Hell House approaches Cloud first, quickly trying to crush him, which he manages to avoid. He shouts over to Sparda after dodging the attack; Sparda grins, holding out his Guitar Sword.

"Oh yeah, better believe it! SPLITTER!" He yells, lifting the sword up into the air.

He then does the unthinkable - he summersaults over the Hell House and slams downwards, splitting the monster in two whole halves. This kills it, and the battle is over.

_BATTLE__ OVER _

"Ha, too easy!" Sparda says confidently, sheathing his Guitar Sword.

"Guess that kiss put your limit to the max..." Aeris says with a smile. "I'll have to kiss you more often from now on!"

Sparda begins to blush again but quickly changes the subject to avoid being noticed.

"So, uh, where are we going?" He asks.

"We're taking her home." Cloud says in reference to Aeris, turning to said girl. "But, remember, it's gonna cost you."

Rolling her eyes, Aeris replies, "Yeah, yeah, I know Cloud! Remember, I said I'd go out with you once as payment!"

She begins to walk towards a small area that looks to be a small Midgar slum town.

"Well, come on, let's go, Bodyguard!" Aeris smiles warmly. "You're coming too, right, Sparda?"

Without waiting for an answer, she walks off into the town, Cloud following a few seconds behind.

_'I always knew that Aeris was a carefree and gentle, spirited woman, but, wow... _

_Nothing seemed to bother her... _

_I suppose it was because of all of the years she spent on her own... _

_But what I didn't understand was... _

_Why did she like me so much? It was almost as if she was flirting with me... _

_I guess it was the surprise of it all... _

_I was also surprised at how I destroyed the Hell House so easily... _

_I willed myself to do what I was thinking, and I did it... _

_There were so many things I would need to learn... _

_I would just allow things to happen as they did so I could continue my journey and perhaps discover the secrets to my 'destiny'...' _

Sparda carries on, to keep up to Cloud and Aeris.


	3. Chapter 2: Dress up

**Chapter Two: Dress up**

The three finally reach Aeris's home; it isn't as dank and grey as the rest of the town, instead the home is abundant with life and vitality, with a waterfall behind the house and a garden full of the flowers that Aeris would use to make a living from as a flower seller.

"Well, come on in!" Aeris says childishly, approaching the front door.

She walks through the door, to see her mother, Elmyra, waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" Elmyra gasps instantly with worry. "You weren't followed again, were you?"

She then notices Cloud and Sparda as they walk through the open doorway.

Aeris shakes her head and replies, light heartedly, "No, no, Mom. They're my friends. They brought me home. This is Cloud, and Sparda, my bodyguards."

"Bodyguards?" Elmyra repeats, raising her eyebrow. "So you _were _followed... Oh, well, thank you, both of you, for bringing Aeris home."

Elmyra then goes upstairs to carry on with her business.

"Nice house, Aeris." Sparda comments, scanning around the first floor.

"Can you show me the way to Sector Seven? I'm trying to get back to Tifa's Seventh Heaven." Cloud asks Aeris.

Aeris responds teasingly, "Is Tifa a girl? A girl_friend_?"

At this, a smirk begins to form at the side of Sparda's face...

_'When I played Final fantasy 7, Cloud always got defensive when Aeris asked him if Tifa was his girlfriend... _

_It wasn't much of a surprise to me that he'd act this way here too...'_

Cloud shakes his head quickly, as he gives a straight, blunt answer to Aeris.

"My, my... Touchy." Aeris laughs with a grin. "Well, that's nice."

Sparda tries his hardest not to laugh.

"Well, don't worry, I'll take you to Sector Six. You need to go through there to get to Tifa's Seventh Heaven." Aeris explains.

"But, you'll be in danger coming back..." Sparda says.

Aeris just smiles back at him, and says, "Don't worry, I'm used to it, so don't worry about me."

"Well I don't know..." Cloud begins. "Getting help from a girl..."

"A _girl_? What's that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm going to stay here after hearing you say that?"

Aeris is shocked and insulted, but this doesn't last for long. She runs to the bottom of the stairs, and calls up, "Mom, I'm taking Cloud and Sparda to Sector Six! Be back in a while!"

Elmyra walks downstairs just as Aeris heads to the front door, and responds in an almost defeated tone, "Aeris... I... I give up. There's no stopping you once you've made up your mind... But why don't you leave tomorrow morning? It's getting late now."

"Yeah, you're right, Mom." Aeris agrees.

"Aeris, please go and make the beds." Elmyra says.

Dutifully, Aeris obeys and goes to make the beds leaving Cloud, Sparda and Elmyra downstairs.

To himself, Sparda says, _"Here's where she asks us to leave in the middle of the night without Aeris..."_

Elmyra asks the two of them exactly that. Cloud nods in agreement, and heads upstairs, with Sparda following suit.

Sparda continues to himself, _"Cloud'll be shocked when we see Aeris at the entrance to Sector Six in the night..."_

Sparda laughs to himself as they climb the staircase, to find Aeris waiting for them at the door closest to the stairs.

"Well, tommorow we'll head to Sector Six to get to Sector Seven." Aeris says, as if she were in command of the other two, as they reach the top floor. "Alright, guys?"

She points to the room at the end of the narrow hallway. "Get some rest in here, there's two beds for you to sleep in."

Aeris makes her way downstairs, whilst the guys make their way into the room. Aeris quickly turns just before they do.

"Oh, and guys?" She says, smiling at them. "Goodnight!"

The flower girl then goes downstairs, leaving Sparda and Cloud to their own devices.

Cloud speaks, while leaning his Buster Sword against the wall in the guest room. "So, where are you off to tomorrow?"

"I was wondering if I could join you all with this Shinra stuff..." Sparda answers, as he leaves his Guitar Sword and Gauntlets on a chair next to his bed, and his boots and Grieves at the side.

Cloud stares at the youth as he lies back onto the mattress.

"I never told you about that..." He says suspiciously. "Who are you, really?"

"I'm not quite sure myself, anymore." Sparda replies with a sarcastic tone of voice. "And, I saw you fall from the reactor into the church where Aeris found you."

Sparda yawns, then falls asleep, leaving Cloud to ponder on what the youth had just said.

"All true... It could be just a coincidence he knows all this, but, there's something about this guy..."

Cloud then waits for a good time to leave without waking Aeris.

Half an hour later, he gets ready to leave, sneaking past Sparda figuring there's no point in involving him in the problems with Shinra.

"Sorry..." He says to Sparda quietly, before sneaking out of the house. "Look after Aeris..."

"Sparda! Hey, Sparda, wake up!"

Sparda promptly wakes up, to see Aeris looking over him.

"Hey, Aeris." He says, sitting up, and noticing that Cloud has gone, causing him to joke. "Hmm, guess he dumped us both, huh?"

He straps the gauntlets to his arms, puts on his boots and grieves and finally straps on his Guitar sword, whilst Aeris speaks again.

"No kidding. Well, let's go find him."

Aeris already has her guard stick with her in case of trouble, so with all their equipment, they head to Sector Sever together. Along the way, Aeris and Sparda get into two battles with monsters - the first is just as soon as they leave the town.

_BATTLE_

Sparda and Aeris go up against another Hell House monster.

With a battle strategy quickly thought out, Aeris distracts the monster, whilst Sparda climbs a huge pile of junk. Upon reaching the top of the heap, he jumps and smashes his fist into the Hell House from above - splitting it into pieces and killing it.

Aeris chuckles as Sparda jokes in victory, "Ha, everyone sucks but us!"

_BATTLE__ OVER_

The second battle is whilst the duo are balancing across the pole to get to Sector Seven.

_BATTLE_

This time, Sparda and Aeris go up against four creatures called Whole Eaters; they're purplish worm-like creatures, with a massive set of jaws, and walk on four legs. Immediately the Whole Eaters set their sights on Aeris; they begin to hiss at her, then they charge, but Sparda gets in their way and blocks them. But, it's four on one, and they knock him down.

Preparing an Ice spell, Aeris shouts, "Hold on!"

Having backed off a little, Aeris uses the spell, freezing the monsters slightly and allowing Sparda to get free.

"Thanks!" Sparda says with a quick smile.

He looks at Aeris for a moment, then sheathes his sword and prepares to fight hand to hand. One of the Whole Eaters breaks free from the short-term ice prison and throws itself at Sparda, only to receive a huge kick to the side of its head, killing it. Two of the other Whole Eaters break free, too, and go for Sparda at once. Sparda grabs one and slams it into the ground, killing it. The other one manages to grab hold of the youth's shoulder, and sinks its teeth in. All the while Aeris kills the still frozen Whole Eater then cast a Fire spell at the final monster on Sparda's arm, destroying that one, too.

Sparda clasps the bite mark on his shoulder and speaks, "Thanks again."

_BATTLE__ OVER_

"Let me take a look at that." Aeris says gently, removing Sparda's hand from his wound. She takes off the top of a Potion, and pours the contents onto Sparda's arm. The wound begins to heal in the liquid.

Sparda moans through gritted teeth. "That burns...!"

"Big Baby, don't you want it to get better?" teases Aeris, meanwhile taking a long cloth from her pocket and wrapping it around Sparda's shoulder.

"Let's get going." Sparda says with a forced smile when she finishes.

A few minutes pass and the two of them reach the park to find Cloud leaning against a railing. The EX SOLDIER thought that he would be fine on his own, and that the others would stay put at Aeris's house, but he's in for a big surprise when he hears Aeris's voice…

"You're up bright and early."

Cloud sharply turns to find the flower girl and the youth standing there - staring at him. Aeris looks miffed, while Sparda just looks amused.

"How could I ask you two to come here, when I knew it would be..." He begins.

"Dangerous?" Sparda finishes his sentance. "You worry way too much, and besides, three's better than one, right?"

The youth then walks over to the swings and sits down, while watching Cloud and Aeris have a little discussion at the top of the park's slide.

_'While these two took a little break they would talk about what rank Cloud was in SOLDIER, and Aeris would talk about her first boyfriend... _

_I kept having to bite my lip and stay my distance cause I didn't want to interfere with their intended destinies as it could affect my own... _

_However, I already had by just being there, and following them on their journey...' _

Sparda looks at his bandaged wound.

_'Not only that, I kept surprising myself by my fighting tactics... _

_I'd never been able to perform such stunts as slice a creature in two in the real world... _

_The real world... _

_At that moment I was missing home, but this was a dream come true, to be a part of something grand and unnatural... _

_Something that didn't happen every day... _

_I guess I wasn't prepared for something like this... _

_All I wanted was to complete my so called 'destiny' that mysterious being had said I had, and end this, and try to have a good time while at it...' _

A huge noise suddenly comes from the large gates leading to Sector 7 as they open; a Chocobo (a yellow ostrich-sized birdlike creature) comes through, and pulling a carriage, being controlled by a carriage driver.

"Oh, look, Cloud." Aeris says. "Who's that at the back?"

Cloud jumps as he recognises the girl Aeris was speaking of. "TIFA?"

The carriage heads to Sector Six in the other direction. Sparda shakes out of his little daydream, and runs over to join the other two.

"Guess we're gonna follow." He says.

"Yep." Aeris nods, running off to follow the carriage.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Sparda then runs after the flower girl, as both of them ignore Cloud yelling at them.

"No you two! I'll do this alone! Sparda, you take Aeris home!"

The Ex SOLDIER's efforts are in vain, so instead he runs after them to catch up. Eventually, Cloud does catch up to the others, who wait outside Sector Six. Although not a big part of Midgar, this sector was well renowned for it's reputation...

"This place is really scary, especially for a girl." Aeris says to Sparda, as he looks around.

Sparda places a hand on her shoulder in response, "No worries, Aeris. Me and Cloud'll take care of you."

"Aww, thanks." Aeris says sweetly, before beginning to walk into the small town with the youth and EX SOLDIER following.

"We've gotta look for Tifa." Declares Cloud.

Aeris wonders, "Any ideas where she might be?"

"Well, she was in a carriage, right? No doubt she'll be going to the Honeybee Inn, then Don Corneo's mansion." Sparda suggests.

"How do you know that?" Cloud asks.

"'Cause that's where all girls go when they head for Sector Six in a carriage like that, and there _was _a banner of the place on the side of the carriage." He replies.

"Okay, then!" Aeris announces. "To the Honeybee Inn, it is!"

The trio begin to head to the southeast part of Sector Six, the location of said inn.

"Welcome to the Honeybee Inn!" The man in front of the door says to them. "Even unpopular dweebs like you may meet their destiny here! You looking for some girlfriends?"

"Actually, we're looking for a girl named Tifa." Cloud says, walking up.

The man claps his hands in amusement. "Hey, you're pretty fast! Tifa is our newest girl, but she's in an interview right now at the Don's mansion. It's standard procedure, you see, for every girl to do so, since the Don's in the market for a bride."

"Thanks!" Aeris says quickly, turning and heading towards the mansion with Cloud and Sparda following her.

Outside the Don's mansion, a guard waits, and whistles as the trio walk towards the Don's abode.

"Hey we've got another cute one here!" He says, noticing Aeris, before turning his attention to Sparda and Cloud. "Hey, you two aren't allowed in! The Don's not interested in men, so beat it!"

As they walk back into the small town, they begin plotting ways of how to get into the Don's mansion and find Tifa.

"Hmm, how are we gonna get in with out causing commotion?" Cloud ponders.

Aeris starts laughing, and Sparda begins to bite his lip, as he knows perfectly well how they're going to get in.

"Hey, Cloud, why don't you dress up like a girl?" Aeris suggests, whilst trying to control herself.

"...Wha...?"

"It's the only way you're gonna get into the place, man." Sparda agrees.

"Y-You two aren't serious?" Cloud roars. "You expect me to walk in there dressed up like a WOMAN?"

"Well, yeah, that's the plan..." Sparda says in response. "I'd do it myself, but I wouldn't be able to help myself laughing."

Sparda gives up, and starts to laugh his head off, whilst Aeris speaks up, firmly, with an evil, yet innocent looking smile. "Then it's settled. Cloud, you're dressing like a girl and coming into the Don's place with me. Sparda, you go around town and try to find a wig and anything else that'll make him look like a woman, okay?"

"You got it!" Sparda says, after recovering from his laughing fit.

He nods his head, and heads off to the places he knows will get him what he needs. Aeris turns her attention back to the EX SOLDIER.

"As for you, Cloud." She says. "You're coming with me, so we can find ourselves some dresses."

Aeris grabs Cloud by the arm, and drags him into a woman's clothing store nearby.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Cloud cries in despair.

Scolding, but also giggling, Aeris replies, "You ran off in the middle of the night and thought you'd get away with it. Now, you're gonna pay for it!"

They walk into the store.


	4. Chapter 3: Battle Decisions and Plot

**Chapter Three: Battle Decisions and Plot**

Sparda heads into the gym on Wall Market, where he knows he will find the blonde wig from a man known as 'Big Bro'.

As soon as he enters, a body builder, or 'Bro', notices him and passes a snide comment, "Oh, look, we got a new one!"

"I'm looking for Big Bro." Sparda says, scanning the large, murky room.

Of the many body builders, the smallest begins to walk up to the youth after hearing his nickname.

"What you want!?" He snarls.

"I was told you're the one I should come to, to get a wig." Sparda replies.

"Ah, so _you're _the one who wants to be cute?" Big Bro questions.

In annoyance, Sparda rolls his eyes. "I'm in a bit of a rush here, mate. Do you have the wig or not?"

"Watch your attitude around here, son!" Big Bro snaps. "Yeah, I have it, but..."

At that moment, another Bro, an intimidating figure standing at around 6ft 5, and built like a tank with a Championship Belt on his shoulder walks up beside Big Bro, a considerable size difference between the two of them present.

"...You gotta beat me in a wrestling match!" The man, the 'Beautiful Bro', concluded the sentence. He cracked his fingers loudly, trying to intimidate his 'challenger'.

_"Oh, crap..." _Sparda thinks, but replies differently to the challenge. "You're on!"

_'This was completely out of the plot line: Cloud only had to complete against this guy doing squats..._

_Maybe me being here had changed all that..._

_So whilst I would be correct in the major plots, these slight alterations would change certain events...'_

The Beautiful Bro heads into the Wrestling ring and raises the belt, before placing it in the corner. Then, as the audience begins to gather around the ring, he does two squats quickly, before again turning his attention to Sparda.

"Last chance to back out, ickle boy!" He taunts.

"Not a chance!" Sparda retorts, as he places his Guitar Sword, Gauntlets and Grieves by the steps and enters the ring. "I'm walking out of here with the wig in my hands, and your ego in ruins!"

"Well! The ickle punk's got guts!" Beautiful Bro laughs aloud.

The room falls silent for one second, before the match bell rings loudly twice.

As Beautiful Bro prepares to attack Sparda with a Clothesline, he yells at the top of his voice, "PREPARE TO DIE!"

_BATTLE_

Beautiful Bro executes his Clothesline attack, and Sparda just ducks in time, retaliating with a shoulder tackle. This proves unsuccessful, however. The bro simply forces Sparda to stand up straight at a frightening speed and then clamps his arms around the youth's waist.

"Nice try, little rookie!" Beautiful Bro smirks, before throwing Sparda over himself with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex. Sparda lands hard on the floor, his face grimacing, as the body builder audience wince, a loud array of mutterings coming from them.

"That little chump's had it now!" One of the bros laughs.

"No one could get up after that pounding!" Another bro adds.

Before Sparda has time to move, Beautiful Bro grabs him by his hair, stands him up, then delivers a Scoop Slam by grabbing the youths leg and arm, then turning him 180 degrees before throwing him into the ring floor.

"You're screwed now, PUNK!" Beautiful Bro exclaims.

He runs towards the ropes, and then leaps, preparing for the Cross Body Slam...

_'I almost thought I was gonna die..._

_But then, I knew that if that were the case, the game would end at this..._

_Cloud and Aeris would never get into the Don's Mansion..._

_No way was I gonna let some over-sized muscle-bound dimwit stop me!'_

The Cross Body almost connects, but Sparda raises his knees in time causing Beautiful Bro's stomach to collide with them. The impact winds the bro and gives Sparda the time to stand up.

The Beautiful Bro stands steadily, still winded. "You little bastard! I'm gonna make sure you never stand again!"

Once again, he rushes at Sparda, this time with his fists clenched for a Polish Hammer.

_"Now!" _Sparda cries to himself, just before he delivers a sharp punch to the bro's face; it connects before the bro's attack, causing his nose to break and blood to spray from it.

Beautiful Bro clutches his face in pain. Teary eyed, covering his nose, he steadily looks back at Sparda. "You brok'd my nose! You-YOU'RE DEAD!!"

Now enraged, the bro lunges for the youth, blinded by the blood and tears. Sparda throws his legs up for a drop kick, sending Beautiful Bro backwards. Sparda then rushes for the ropes and Clotheslines the bro, knocking him on his back.

Sparda then climbs the closest turnbuckle and waits for the bro to get up.

"Time to end this..." The youth says, venomously.

The audience cheers on as the bro begins to stand. Sparda clenches both of his fists for a finishing blow. Beautiful Bro stands...

"And now... THE DOUBLE DOOSE!" Sparda roars, leaping off the turnbuckle and slamming his fists into Beautiful Bro's shoulders, sending a massive shock throughout his body system and causing him to collapse.

Following this, Big Bro quickly heads into the ring, to check on Beautiful Bro.

"He's been KO'ed... The Champ has been knocked out!" Big Bro declares.

The spectators begin to quiet down, and muttering can be heard.

"Holy shit..." One bro is heard saying.

Another bro passes comment, "That's the first time anyone other than Big Bro..."

"Here's your winner and new BG Champion as a result by Knock Out: The Challenger!" Big Bro says loudly to the audience.

_BATTLE OVER_

The audience erupts in applause, and Aeris wanders in to see what all of the commotion is about.

One of the bros turns to her and speaks, "You just missed it! That little punk just KO'ed the champ!"

Aeris looks over at Sparda, who is resting on one of the turnbuckles.

"Really?" She enquires.

"And, as promised, here is the wig." Big Bro says to Sparda, handing the blonde wig over to him. He then takes the Championship Belt from where Beautiful Bro had left it, and hands that over, too. "And, also... Your title belt!"

"T-Thanks..." Sparda stutters, shattered. He then proceeds to stagger out of the ring with the wig and belt, and collects his weapons.

Aeris runs over to him.

"You okay?" She asks.

"Tha... That wasn't too hard..." He replies wearily, before collapsing.

The flower girl simply rolls her eyes and laughs, before getting Big Bro to help carry him over to the dress store, where Cloud is waiting, dressed in a silk dress, and holding a diamond tiara in his hands.

"Did you get the wig?" He asks Aeris, before he sees Sparda knocked out in the arms of Big Bro. "...What happened to him?"

Aeris walks over to Cloud with the wig, and puts it on him.

"Long story short: Sparda had to wrestle the champ of the Bro Gym for the wig..." She explains.

Big Bro chuckles, "He won, but that was before he passed out..."

The bro rests Sparda on the floor, before taking the Title Belt.

"I take it he's travelling with you?" He asks.

Cloud and Aeris nod.

"Well, the belt, I'm afraid, will have to be stripped from him if he's not gonna stay and defend it."

Big Bro turns and leaves the store, but not before staring oddly at the Ex-SOLDIER.

_Moments later..._

"Hellooo? Sparda?" Aeris calls.

Slowly, Sparda opens his eyes to see the flower girl in a red satin dress, and the Ex-SOLDIER in a lavender silk dress.

"Hellooo, Gorgeous!" He says to Aeris, whom winks and smiles back. To Cloud, he says in a mock tone, "I'm not even gonna ask..."

Cloud proceeds to mutter something to himself, as Aeris helps the youth up.

"Well, now you're up and about, we're heading for the Don's Mansion." She says.

"Right!" Sparda says. "Let's go."

The trio leave the shop then head towards the Don's Mansion; Sparda begins to frown.

Aeris notices, and asks, "What's up?"

"I'm sure I won a Championship Belt..." He says.

"You did, but it was taken away from you by the guy who runs the gym." Explains Aeris. "He said you wouldn't be a champion unless you stayed to defend your title."

"Aww, but I liked that belt..." Sparda sighs.

"Can we just go and get this over with?" Cloud says firmly.

Sparda turns to Aeris, passing comment, "Touchy..."

She giggles in response.

Finally, they make it to the Don's Mansion.

"Okay, you two go in and find Tifa." Sparda says. "I'll find another way in."

"Okay, then!" Aeris replies, before turning to Cloud. "Come on, sweetie, the Don won't be able to resist you!"

Sparda attempts to hide a laugh whilst Cloud curses under his breath. The duo then walk up to the security guard as the youth begins to search for an entrance unnoticed.

"Damn, your friend's a hot one, too! Come in, come in!" The guard grins to Cloud and Aeris, before speaking through his intercom. "Hey, I've got two ladies, coming through!"

He allows Cloud and Aeris to enter the mansion.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hmm, there's only the ventilation and it doesn't seem to head into the mansion... Hmm..." Sparda mumbles.

_'It seemed like the only way into the Don's Mansion was through the main entrance..._

_And, of course, the guard wouldn't be willing to let me through so easily, so I needed a plan..._

_Then, it hit me...'_

Sparda hides behind some of the crates in front of the mansion...

"HEY! Guard!!" He calls.

The guard jumps, and looks around, before spotting Sparda.

"Huh? What is it!?" He asks.

"I need to let you know, AVALANCHE is planning an all-out attack on this place!" Exclaims Sparda.

"What!!" The guard cries, rushing over to where the youth lies in wait. "Tell me what you know!"

Suddenly, Sparda grabs the guard by the collar.

"What the...!?"

For a short while, heavy punches can be heard.

"Argh! Ugh..."

Sparda stands up ecstatically and grins.

"Fell for it!" He mocks, before noticing the unconscious guard's attire. "Now, that's a nice coat you're wearin'..."

He kneels beside the guard and pulls the leather trench coat off of him, stands again, and puts the coat on.

"Clean fit! Call this payment for making me waste my time around the Wall Market in the game!"

Opening up one of the nearby crates, Sparda speaks again to himself: _'Although, 'cause of that I learned of the Shinra President's secret obsession with the Honeybee Inn...'_, as he heaves the guard into the crate and seals it again.

"Oh, wait, there's another vent right next to the door..." He says, slapping his forehead as he notices; he shrugs his shoulders and removes the vent cover, before climbing inside.

Meanwhile, inside the Don's Mansion, Cloud and Aeris's attention is given by a guy behind a registration desk of sorts.

"Welcome ladies." Says the man. "I'll go let the Don know you're here. Wait here, and don't go wandering around."

As soon as he leaves, Aeris turns to Cloud quickly. "Now's our chance! Let's find Tifa."

Cloud is quick to agree, and after disobedient 'wandering around', he and Aeris enter the basement through a doorway on the higher level of the mansion. Waiting there is Tifa, whom is also dressed up for the Don.

"You're Tifa?" Aeris asks, catching the other girl's attention.

Tifa gives her a sharp nod in reply.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Aeris. Cloud's told me alot about you."

Remembering suddenly, Tifa speaks: "Hey, you're the one with Cloud and the other guy in the park..."

"Right, with Cloud." Aeris says, nodding.

"Oh..." Tifa mumbles slightly. She appears to be a little upset.

"Don't worry. We just met. It's nothing." Aeris responds.

The darker haired girl frowns.

"What do you mean 'don't worry'? About what?" She enquires, before coming to the realisation. "Ah... No, don't misunderstand. Cloud and I grew up together. Nothing more."

"Poor Cloud..." Aeris smiles slightly. "... Having to stand there and listen to us both call him 'nothing'. Right, Cloud?"

Cloud moves backwards nervously, as Tifa looks at him with a certain curiousness. She examines his face carefully, thinning her eyes and taking a closer look, before she instantly recognises him and jolts in shock.

"Cloud!! Why are you dressed like that!? A-And what are you doing here!?" She spurts in bewilderment. "Forget that - what happened to you after the fall!? Are you hurt!?"

Cloud eventually interrupts her: "Hey, give me a chance to answer. I'm dressed like this... Well... Because there was no other way to get in here. I'm all right. Aeris helped me out."

Tifa looks slowly to the floor, a few loose bangs of her hair falling across her face as she does so.

"Oh, Aeris did..." She says.

"Tifa, explain." Cloud says sternly, not taking notice of the slight gloom that had reappeared over her. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

"Yeah, umm..." Tifa slurs.

Aeris quickly glances between the two of them.

"Ahem! I'll just plug my ears." The brunette says, before walking away from the other two and doing so.

"I'm glad that you're okay." Tifa says with relief, now able to talk to Cloud in private.

"Thanks." He replies. "So, what happened?"

"When we got back from the Number Five reactor, there was this weird man. So Barret caught him and squeezed some information out of him." She explains.

"That's when the Don's name popped up." Cloud adds.

"Right. Don Corneo." Tifa continues. "Barret told me to leave the leech alone, but, something's been seriously bothering me..."

Cloud realises her situation and responds: "I see. So you wanted to get the story straight from the Corneo's mouth."

"So, I made it here, but now I'm in a bind. Corneo is looking for a bride." She tells him. "Everyday, he gets three girls, chooses one of them, and then... And... Well... Well, anyway, I have to be the girl, or I'm out for tonight..."

Aeris promptly rejoins them, interrupting.

"Sorry, but, I overheard... If you know the three girls, there's no problem, right?"

"No, Aeris!" Cloud objects. "I can't have you involved!"

"Oh? So it's all right for Tifa to be in danger?" She irritably enquires.

"No, I don't want Tifa in--" He begins before Tifa interjects.

"Is it all right?" She asks, walking over to Aeris.

The older girl shrugs. "I grew up in the slums. I'm used to danger. Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Tifa nods in approval. "Thanks, Ms. Aeris."

"Call me Aeris."

"HEEEYYY!" The man from behind the registration desk calls down the stairs. "It's time, ladies! The Don is waiting! And I told you not to wander around!! Hurry up, will ya!?"

He mutters under his breath as he walks away, "I tell ya, women nowadays..."

Cloud scratches the back of his neck. "I probably don't need to ask, but the other girl is... Me, right?"

"You're right..." Tifa says, rolling her eyes. "There was no need..."

"...To ask." Aeris adds.

In the mansion's vents, Sparda continues to crawl through the dim, cramped metallic passageways, muttering a joke to himself.

"Naked blonde walks into a bar with a poodle under one arm and a two foot salami under the other; she lays the poodle on the table and the bartender says 'I suppose you'll be needing a drink?' and the naked lady says..."

Finally, he has crawled his way to the vent opening on his left that looms over the Don's office.

"...Jackpot!"

_'Typical that I'd find the Don's office before finishing that joke..._

_Ironic also that the same joke would come to mind while in a vent..._

_Now that I had found the office, all I would need to do was wait for the right moment...'_

At the same time, Cloud, Aeris and Tifa enter the Don's room.

"All right, ladies. Line up in front of the Don." Kotch, a lackey of Corneo's - whom stood on his right hand side - says.

"Great timing..." Sparda whispers to himself.

Cloud's group take their positions.

"Hmm..." Corneo murmurs, obviously interested, pacing up and down in front of the three of them. "Good, splendid! Now, let's see... Which girl should I choose? Hmm... This one... Or this one...?"

Corneo looks at Cloud, but he turns his face away from the hefty Don.

"Whoo-hoo!" Corneo exclaims. "I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight is..."

Sparda suppresses a laugh.

"This healthy looking girl!" The Don continues, choosing Cloud.

_'I knew the moment I entered the vent that this would happen..._

_I just couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the Don could be so easily fooled!'_

Shocked, Cloud stammers, "Wa-Wait a sec! I mean, uhhh, please, wait a moment!"

"Whoo-hoo! I love chickies who play hard-to-get! Yeowza!" Corneo continues, excited, and without a clue. He then addresses Kotch and the other lackey. "You can have the other ones!"

"Yes sir! Thank you sir!" They say in sync, before they take Aeris and Tifa away to the other rooms.

"Well, then! Shall we go, my pretty!?" Corneo says to Cloud, before taking him to his private quarters.

As soon as the room is empty, Sparda bursts out laughing, just before he realises that Tifa and Aeris are with the Don's men.

"Crap! I've gotta help them!" He says, rushing through the vents as quietly as possible.

A few turns later, he comes across a vent opening into a grimy looking room where Aeris is surrounded by Kotch and several others.

"So, who goes first?" One of the men asks.

Kotch replies boldly. "Me! I hate sloppy seconds!"

"Who put you in charge!?" Another man exclaims.

Aeris speaks up, trying to be as brave and as intimidating as she can be. "I don't want any of you!"

Kotch responds by backhanding her, causing her to fall to the cold floor with a cry, clutching her cheek.

"Mother fucker!" Sparda furiously growls, inaudibly over the loud noises of the henchmen. "I've gotta save her!"

He begins to loosen the vent hatch, as the other lackeys laugh as Aeris, now back on her feet, tries to get past them; each time just getting thrown back.

"We're gonna have the time of our lives with you!" One of the men says with a smug look. "And what's more, no one will be here to stop us!"

Sparda feels the vent cover loosen and then all of a sudden open. He quickly leaps out of the cramped vent with the Guitar Sword unsheathed.

"I don't think so!" He says menacingly.

"Sparda!" Aeris cries, running to his side and brandishing her Guard Stick.

Alarmed, Kotch yells, "An intruder! Guys, let's get 'im!"

He and four other henchmen grab hold of nearby baseball bats for weapons.

"All right, listen, you sick fucks!" Sparda says aloud, getting into battle position. "You're goin' down, and down extra hard! You think you can use women for your thrills!? Well, that attitude stops now!"

_BATTLE_

The first henchman lunges for Sparda and swings his baseball bat horizontally only to be parried by Sparda who then proceeds to slice the bat in two with one great vertical slash.

"Element of lightning, imbued my blade!" Sparda says, calling upon the power of his Lightning Materia. The Materia reacts, creates a Bolt Spell that empowers the Guitar Sword; he swings it and inflicts lightning damage on two of the henchmen, knocking them out.

Aeris swings low with her Guard Stick, tripping Kotch up as he tries to stab at Sparda with his knife. The leading henchman instantly loses balance, stumbles and falls, in the process accidentally stabbing the third henchman in the chest, through the heart, killing him.

Sparda then draws the Guitar Sword's blade to Kotch's throat.

"Surrender, or perish!?"

"I-I s-surrender..." Kotch groans.

The fourth henchman simply drops his bat and runs as fast as he can out of the mansion.

_BATTLE OVER_

"Please don't kill me!" Pleads Kotch. "I beg for mercy!"

"Like the mercy you showed Aeris when she said she didn't want what you did!?" Sparda asks gruffly, his blade still at Kotch's throat. "Or the mercy you showed her when you back handed her!? Or maybe like the mercy you and your sick lackeys have shown women in the past!?"

He begins to lift the Guitar Sword for a killer blow; Kotch closes his eyes hard and begins sobbing.

But, Sparda lowers his weapon to waist height and growls: "Get out of my sight!"

The sobbing henchman opens his eyes swiftly and runs out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him. The lightning power on the Guitar Sword faded, Sparda sheathes it.

"You saved me!" Aeris says happily, hugging him.

"Yeah..." Sparda says, his anger subsided.

"You stopped me from... Well... Thank you, Sparda!"

"Don't mention it. Besides, I despise rapists..."

Aeris blinks in curiosity.

"What stopped you from killing the last one, then?" She asks.

"I may despise those that do those things, but when they seem to want to redeem themselves, I believe you're the bigger person for forgiving rather than condemning..." He explains.

"Sparda..." Aeris says, amused.

"I'm just glad you're alright..." Sparda tells her, giving her a gentle hug back. "Anyway, let's go help Cloud and Tifa."

Sparda walks out of the door as Aeris takes off her dress revealing her normal attire underneath.

"Thank you, Sparda." She smiles.

"Yeah, yeah..." He responds softly.

The duo head across the main hallway to the room where Tifa was taken.

"Do you think we're too late!?" Aeris asks with a worried look as they arrive outside the door.

Sparda opens the door and finds Tifa (back in her normal attire, also) delivering a somersault kick into the jaw of the last standing henchman, defeating him.

"Somehow, I don't think that's a problem!" He laughs.

"Aeris!" Tifa says, noticing. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Aeris replies. "Sparda here just saved me in time."

Recalling, whilst looking at Sparda, Tifa asks, "You were the one with Cloud in the park too, right?"

"Sure was." He answers. "Just glad we came to help when we did."

"Speaking of Cloud, where is he?" Aeris interrupts.

"He's still with Corneo!" Realises Sparda.

Tifa is first to head in the direction of the Don's office. "We've gotta go help him!" She says, as the other two follow.

The trio enter the Don's office; all the while, Cloud has been in Corneo's lavish chambers. Both of them are now sat on the bed.

"Ahhhh! We're finally alone! All right, Pussycat! Come to Daddy!!" The Don says, grossly sexually excited, making Cloud feel both uncomfortable and nauseous. "You're so cute! I never get tired of looking at you. Do you... Like me, too?"

"Ummm..." Cloud mumbles, figuring what to say.

"You don't like me?" Enquires Corneo, beginning to sound disappointed. "There... There isn't someone else, is there?"

"Yes. His name's Barret." Cloud replies.

"No way! Hmm, Barret... That sounds familiar..."

The Don begins to think, but it isn't long before Cloud merely decides to explain.

"You know, he's one of the ones you were trying to find out about. You know, AVALANCHE?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, in the Sector Seven slum..." Corneo says. "But, how do YOU know that!?"

Cloud steps backwards and takes off his dress revealing his normal self underneath.

"A-A-A-A MAN!?" Corneo screeches in shock. "YOU TRICKED ME!! SOMEONE GET IN HERE, NOW!!"

"Unfortunately, no one'll be coming to help!" Tifa's voice resounds.

Seconds after, she arrives with Aeris and Sparda.

Cornered, the Don exclaims, "You're the ones from before!! Wh... What the hell's going on!?"

"Shut up! We're asking the questions now!" Tifa interferes. "What did your assistants find out? Talk! If you don't tell us..."

"...I'll chop them off!" Cloud growls, his left leg on the bed.

Corneo panics. "NO! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!!"

"So, talk." Tifa says softly, in an intimidating way.

"I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was. But that's what I was ordered to do." Corneo confesses.

"By who?" Asks Tifa.

"Noo!" The Don cries. "I-If I told you that, I'd be killed!"

"Talk!" The dark haired girl demands. "If you don't tell us..."

Aeris raises her left leg to the bed also. "...I'll rip them off!"

Corneo panics and confesses further. "WAAAAH! It was Heidegger of Shinra! Heidegger, the Head of Public Safety Maintenance!!"

"The Head of Public Safety Maintenance!?" Cloud repeats, puzzled.

"Did you say Shinra!? What are they up to!? Talk! If you don't tell us..." Tifa exclaims, also raising her foot to the bed. "...I'll smash them!"

Beads of sweat dripping down the Don's plump face show his obvious fear.

"...You're serious, aren't you? Ohboy... Ohboy... Ohboy... I'm not fooling around here either, you know!?"

By this point, Sparda becomes impatient.

"You'd better get to the point real quick! I'm fed up with your ugly mug already, now tell us what we want to know, or else..."

He puts his left leg on the Don's bed also.

"...I'll stomp a mud hole in your crotch and walk it dry!"

"Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE, and want to infiltrate their hideout!" Corneo blurts, really panicking. "They're really going to crush them, literally! By breaking the support holding the plate above them!"

Tifa's attention is given. "Break the support!?"

"You know what's going to happen? The plate'll go PING, and everything's gonna go BAMMM!! I heard their hideout's in the Sector Seven slums. I'm just glad it's not here in Sector Six!" Corneo says.

"They're going to wipe out the Sector Seven slums!?" Tifa is alarmed. "Cloud, will you come with me to Sector Seven?"

"Of course, Tifa." Cloud replies.

"We'll come, too." Sparda says; Aeris nods in approval.

They begin walking out, but just as Cloud, Tifa and Aeris stand on the rug before the bed...

"Just a second!" The Don yelps.

"Shut up!" Cloud growls in response.

"No, wait, it'll only take a second. How do you think scum like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"

"Because they're sure to win..." Sparda predicts.

"Whoo-hoo! Right!" Corneo says, just before pulling a nearby switch to open a trap door underneath the rug - thus Cloud and the girls fall down with simultaneous yells of surprise into the mansion's pit.

"Weren't accounting for me, were you?" Laughs Sparda.

Corneo jumps off the bed and backs off to his desk, where a pistol lays. However, Sparda lunges for him, knocking the gun out of his hand before he can aim.

"Now, now!" The Don says nervously in shock. "We can make a deal, can't we?"

"Hmm, now, let's see..." Sparda says sarcastically. "You let your lackeys almost rape Aeris and Tifa, you send them down to the sewers where your little 'pet' Aps dwells..."

"H-How do you know about my pet?" Corneo stutters.

Sparda slaps the Don's head.

"I know alot about you, and just now you try to shoot me with that gun? Hmm, I don't think there's much of anything you can give me."

He clenches his left fist and grabs Corneo with his other hand. The Don whimpers pathetically, and so, Sparda throws him to the floor.

"You're not even worth my time, so don't worry, I don't beat a man when he's down..."

Sparda turns to head for the trap door; just then Corneo tries again for his gun. However, the youth turns and kicks him convincingly very hard in the crotch, causing him to faint from the pain.

"...I kick him, it's a hell of a lot easier."

He then turns again and heads back to the open trap door.

Grinning, Sparda says, "I've always wanted to do that!"

Swiftly, he jumps through the entrance to the sewers.

--

Well at last the fic has a new chapter! hope you all like it! and dont forget half the credit goes to my partner in crime lol Arcbus, without her this couldnt be possible :) well read on and review ladies and gentlemen!


	5. Chapter 4: Farewell to Sector 7

**Chapter Four: Farewell To Sector Seven**

The President of the Shinra Corporation abides in his large, bare, yet expensive looking office. His colleagues had recently entered; he swivels in his chair behind his cold metal desk to them.

"How are the preparations going?" He asks.

"Hahaha! Smoothly! Very smoothly!" A large bearded man - Heidegger - replies.

The president's other colleague, Reeve, looks on uneasily, before he begins to raise an objection, "President! Are we really going to do this? Simply destroy a group with only a few members?"

"What's the problem, Reeve?" Shinra taunts with a hint of curiosity. "You want out?"

"No... But, as the Head of the Urban Development Department, I have been involved in the building and running of Midgar, that's why..."

Heidegger laughs loudly, "Reeve! You should flush those personal problems in the morning!"

"The Mayor's against this, anyway..." Reeve continues.

"Mayor? He just sits in this building all day feeding his face!" Heidegger shrugs. "You call _that _a Mayor?"

After commenting to Reeve, he then turns back to the President.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Sir!"

Heidegger leaves via one of the vast staircases in the room. Reeve tries to follow, but he is stopped by the President.

"You're tired." Shinra tells him. "Why don't you take a couple of days off and go somewhere?"

To this, Reeve leaves the office, leaving the President to swivel back around to the direction of his large windows that look out over Midgar, and be alone with thoughts of his conspiracy.

"We'll destroy Sector Seven and report that AVALANCHE did it." He tells himself. "Then, we'll send in the rescue operation care of Shinra, Inc. Hehehe... This is _perfect._"

--

Meanwhile, in the dark trenches of the sewers, the trio wake up after their fall from the Don's Mansion.

"You alright?" Cloud asks Tifa, after managing to pull himself up.

"Man! This is terrible!" She responds.

Cloud then asks the same question of Aeris, "You alright?"

"Yeah, well, the worst is over..." The flower girl says, just before she hears a strange noise, and convinces herself she'd spoken too soon. "Maybe not..."

Just then, Sparda falls from the exit of the trap door, landing perfectly in the sewers with the others.

"Everyone! Get ready!" He calls, his Guitar Sword in hand.

The noise gets louder, and Corneo's pet Aps shows itself: a monstrous beast with spikes sprouting from its spine; its thick skin a light blue colour, speckled over with a muddy colour from the sewer water. Aps roars, and the battle begins.

_BATTLE!!_

Aps stomps at the floor beneath the water, causing it to rise up behind it.

"Guys! It's using Sewer Tsunami!" Sparda yells, jumping to the side. "Get to the sidewalk!"

Cloud and Tifa immediately manage to do so; Aeris just makes it to the sidewalk as the tidal wave of putrid sewage charges through the sewer lane.

"How are we gonna get past it!?" Tifa asks, wiping some water off her arms.

"You all have Lightning Materia?" Sparda asks, earning a nod from both Cloud and Tifa. "When I say so, both of you cast Bolt on me!"

"What!?" They respond.

"Just do it!!" He tells them, before jumping down about ten feet away from the beast.

Aps roars as he begins to conjure up another Sewer Tsunami. Sparda raises his sword just as the wave rises behind the monstrosity.

"NOW!!"

Cloud and Tifa summon the magic of their Materia, and cast Bolt on Sparda. At the same time, he casts the same spell on himself.

"Element of Lightning! IMBUED MY BLADE!!"

The three Bolt spells strike the blade of the Guitar Sword and power it up.

"THUNDAGA SLASH!!"

Sparda swings the Guitar Sword horizontally and a huge blast of electrical energy heads for Aps and hits the beast the moment the tidal wave begins to rush forward, conducting enough power to render the beast dead. However, the blast also recoils at Sparda, and sends him flying into the far wall of the sewers.

"Oowww!" He groans, struggling to get up after the fall. "That's the last time I do that…"

_BATTLE OVER_

"Sparda!" Cloud yells.

The three rush over to the youth.

"You okay?" Tifa asks, helping him up.

"Yeah, just had a teeny shock..." Sparda replies.

"_Teeny_!?" She scolds. "You could have been killed!!"

"Healing Wind!" Aeris says, summoning her limit skill to heal the teen's electrical based wounds. "Sparda... Don't ever do that again!"

Sparda looks at the brunette, seeing a mix of anger and worry in her expression.

"I just wanted us to get out of here. I'm sorry I worried you." He says.

Quickly, Aeris hugs him. "How are you gonna be my bodyguard if you're fried to a crisp!?"

"I'm your bodyguard?" Sparda gives a small smile as she releases him. "I thought that was Cloud's job?"

"Well, it's yours too!" Aeris says, tapping the teen's nose with her index finger and smiles gently.

Cloud begins to look around at the group's surroundings.

"We need to get out of these sewers." He states.

"There's a ladder to the surface." Tifa says, also examining the area. "Just at the end of the tunnel."

Cloud begins to head for the ladder. "Let's go! We need to get to Sector Seven!"

"It's too late..." Tifa looks downwards, shaking her head and speaking in a depressed tone. "Marlene... Barret... The people of the slums..."

"Don't give up! Never give up hope!" Aeris says encouragingly. "It's not easy to destroy the pillar, right?"

"...Yeah, you're right! We still have time!"

Quickly, the four of them climb the ladder and get out of the sewers, into the Train Graveyard near to Sector Seven.

Cloud speaks as he puts the manhole cover of the sewer back in place. "Aeris... I got you mixed up in all of this."

The flower girl closes her eyes and shakes her head.

"Don't tell me to go home."

"Let's see..." Ponders Tifa, searching the graveyard of broken, mangled trains arranged in a large maze. "If we can get past the trains that are lit up, we should be able to get out of here."

"Right then, let's get through quickly." Sparda says.

The team of four makes it through the train graveyard, to their surprise, without any encounters. The monsters within the area must be aware of the looming danger of the pillar collapse.

As soon as they enter the main area of the Sector Seven slums, Tifa runs to the base of the pillar where a huge crowd has gathered.

"We made it! The pillar's standing!" She says.

"Wait..." Cloud listens closely as he talks. "You hear something?"

Aeris listens intently. "...Gun fire?"

Suddenly, Wedge, a member of the AVALANCHE team, is shot and falls from near the top of the extremely tall pillar. The group runs to him.

"Wedge! You all right?" Cloud asks, worried.

"...Cloud..." He groans in response as he begins to die. "...You... Remembered my name... Barret's up top... Help him... An' Cloud...? Sorry... I wasn't any help..."

Wedge shuts his eyes, taking his final breaths...

"I'm going up!" Cloud says aloud, before turning to Aeris. "Aeris, you look after Wedge."

"Aeris, do me a favour. There's a bar called 'Seventh Heaven' in this neighbourhood." Tifa also says to the flower girl. "There's a little girl named Marlene there..."

"Don't worry. I'll put her somewhere safe." Aeris replies, understanding.

"I'm staying with Aeris!" Sparda declares. "At a time like this, there'll be Shinra soldiers all over the place!"

Aeris nods, and the two of them rush into the streets of the Sector Seven slums. As soon as they leave, Tifa speaks out to the civilians.

"It's dangerous here! Everyone get away from the pillar, quickly! Everyone get out of Sector Seven!"

Both Cloud and Tifa then immediately rush up the pillar, as the civilians begin to flee. At the same time, Aeris and Sparda rush towards the Seventh Heaven.

_'There was more than just one reason for me staying with her..._

_Shortly after collecting Marlene, Aeris will surrender herself to Shinra in exchange for Barret's daughter's safety..._

_If this was to happen while I was with her, I would not allow Aeris to be taken without a fight...'_

"This must be it!" Sparda says, running towards the wood-built Seventh Heaven bar.

Aeris runs inside quickly. "Marlene! We've come to take you out of here!"

Sparda follows her inside, just as the little girl peeps her head out from behind the bar.

"Where's my papa!?" Marlene asks, worried.

"He's on the top of the Sector's pillar." Explains Sparda. "He and Tifa wanted us to get you out of here, 'cause it's not safe."

Marlene doesn't reply.

"We won't hurt you." Aeris says, smiling gently. "I promise."

Slightly reluctantly, Marlene nods her head, and runs up to the flower girl quickly.

The trio rush back out of the Seventh Heaven through the slums to Sector Five, when suddenly, a pair of Shinra soldiers marches towards them.

"Aeris! Marlene! Stay back!" Sparda yells, unsheathing his Guitar Sword.

_BATTLE!!_

Sparda slashes one of the soldiers, knocking him into a wall; another soldier, however, slams his rifle into Sparda's back, knocking him down. He retaliates, slamming his right fist into the soldier's crotch, but then he is suddenly surrounded at gun point by eight more soldiers.

"I'd back down, if I were you." An unknown voice says gruffly.

A man with medium-length black hair wearing one of the infamous blue Turk uniforms walks onto the scene.

"Tseng!" Sparda growls. "What brings you, the leader of the Turks, here!?"

"I've come for the Ancient." Tseng replies calmly, turning towards Aeris, whom was clinging onto Marlene's hand. "Come with me, right now."

"Element of Fire... Imbued my blade..." Sparda says silently.

The power of his Fire Materia empowers the Guitar Sword with fire energy.

"AERIS! MARLENE! GET DOWN!!" He shouts, as they duck instantly on his command; he then swings the Fire imbued weapon above his head, yelling 'FIRE SLASH!!', setting all eight of the soldiers ablaze with a ring of fire.

The soldiers taken care of, he then points his blade at Tseng.

"Aeris! Take Marlene and get out of here!"

"Sparda! Be careful!" Aeris calls, running off towards her house with Marlene.

"I know why you want to use Aeris." Sparda says to Tseng, venomously. "To reveal the Promised Land! I won't let you take her!"

"Hmm... That's too bad..." Tseng blankly responds.

A dart suddenly hits Sparda in the back of the neck, causing him to collapse and lose consciousness.

"...I never recall needing you to tell me what I can and cannot do..."

Tseng looks to the entrance of Aeris's house, where a bald-headed Turk with sunglasses holsters a dart shooter, and already has Aeris and Marlene in handcuffs to his right.

"Good shot, Rude."

_BATTLE OVER..._

"If I surrender..." Aeris sighs. "...Will you let Marlene and Sparda go?"

Tseng raises his eyebrow. "If I let some brat and punk go, you'll surrender with no objection?"

"...Yes..."

"Leave the girl with the old woman." Tseng tells Rude, whom proceeds to unlock Marlene's handcuffs, and take her to Elmyra, who rushes over quickly.

Tseng aims his pistol at Aeris.

"As for you... Walk!"

"What about Sparda?" Aeris asks.

Tseng looks towards the youth, still unconscious on the floor.

"With that display of power, Professor Hojo will be keen on observing him..."

Aeris's emerald green eyes widen, showing both shock and anger.

"I-I said for both of them to be free!"

Tseng smacks her with his gun, hard, causing her to cry out. "You should know it never pays off to make a deal with a Turk..."

He then grabs her arm, and drags her to a helicopter waiting nearby. Rude carries Sparda to the helicopter, and ties him in chains to one of the seats, before taking his Guitar Sword and handing it to Tseng.

"A sword... That's also a guitar..." Tseng says, examining the blade, before boarding the helicopter himself. "An interesting weapon... Rude?"

Rude nods his head, before climbing into the pilot's seat and starting the ignition. Within moments, the chopper is airborne, leaving only Elmyra and Marlene on the ground below.

--

As soon as Aeris and Sparda had left them, Cloud and Tifa had begun to climb the stairs of the pillar, fighting the enemies as they came along the way.

Eventually, they come across Biggs, another AVALANCHE member, who is lying helplessly on a rail.

"Cloud..." He mumbles weakly. "So... You don't care... What happens... To the... P-Planet?"

Cloud closes his eyes. "Nope. Not interested."

"Hmph..." Biggs continues. "You... Haven't changed... Oh, forget it..."

Cloud continues going up; Tifa reluctantly follows, after forcing herself not to go further up and not stay with Biggs. Eventually, they come across another AVALANCHE member, Jessie, lying on the steps, whom is also badly injured.

"Cloud... I'm glad I could talk to you... One last time..." She says slowly.

Cloud responds coldly, "Is that so?", as Tifa kneels besides the dying woman.

"Is... That so...? Ha... Cool... As usual..." Jessie continues, amused despite her critical status. "Ex-SOLDIER... Always... liked that... In you..."

Tifa stands again, and she and Cloud continue onwards up the pillar, leaving her there.

The duo meet up with Barret at the pinnacle of the pillar, as he opens fire at the circling Shinra helicopter.

"Tifa! Cloud! You came!!" He exclaims. "Careful! They're attacking from the helicopter!!"

"Better equip ourselves before they attack in full force!" Tifa says.

The trio take a few quick moments to check over their equipment.

As a red-headed Turk jumps from the chopper, down onto the platform, Tifa speaks again, "Here they come!"

"You're too late." The Turk - Reno - tells them confidently. "Once I push this button..."

He reveals he is carrying a computer console, and presses the button of the device with the pad of his thumb.

"That's all folks! Mission accomplished!"

"We have to disarm it! Cloud, Barret! Please!!" Tifa panicks.

"I can't have you do that." Reno says, bringing out his electro rod. "No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks..."

_BATTLE_

Charging his electro rod, Reno runs at Cloud, who parries the attack with his Buster Sword. Tifa then catches the Turk off guard by sweeping his legs out from under him. Barret ends the small battle by aiming his gun arm right at him. Barret just prepares to fire when a shock knocks the trio off their feet.

"It's time..." Reno grins, running to the edge of the pillar and jumping off.

_BATTLE OVER_

Tifa rushes over and attempts to disable the self-release panel for the pillar.

"Cloud! I don't know how to stop this! Try it!!" She says with quick breaths, panicking as she presses random buttons.

Cloud observes the system. "It's not a normal time bomb..."

Just then, the Turks' helicopter appears at the group's level.

"That's right." Tseng says, leaning out from the open door of the chopper. "You'll have a hard time disarming that one. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it."

"Please! Stop it!! Pleads Tifa.

"Hahaha... Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System." Tseng responds curtly.

"Shut yer hole!!" Barret yells, opening fire on the helicopter.

"I wouldn't try that." Tseng says. "...You just might injure our special guests."

Seeing the two locked into their seats, Tifa shouts, "AERIS! SPARDA!!"

"Oh, you know each other? How nice that you could see them one last time. You should thank me."

"What are you gonna do with Aeris and Sparda!?" Cloud exclaims.

"I haven't decided. Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient."

Tseng looks at Aeris.

"It's taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the President... As for him..."

He then looks at Sparda, whom is still knocked out from the tranquillisier dart.

"...He's one with some interesting powers, too. The Science Division will be interested in him."

"TIFA! DON'T WORRY!!" Aeris shouts as loud as she can. "SHE'S ALL RIGHT!!"

Instantly, Tseng slaps Aeris across the face for her outburst.

"Aeris!!" Tifa cries, covering her mouth.

"H-Hurry and get out!!" Aeris continues, shaking her head.

"Ha, ha, ha..." Tseng smirks. "Well, it should be starting right about now. Think you can escape in time?"

The helicopter takes off, just as an explosion takes up a huge portion of the pillar, destroying it.

"Yo, we can use this wire to get out!" Barret says to Cloud and Tifa, an overhead wire in his grip.

Tifa and Cloud quickly grab onto Barret as he jumps onto the wire with one great leap, swinging them downwards to the outside of Sector Seven, as the support is destroyed and the plate crushes everyone and everything in Sector Seven.

Above, in the Shinra building, the President watches on intently in satisfaction, whilst listening to his favourite classical music filling his office.

--

**Hurray! an update at last lol, sorry its taken a while to do so, brain storming isnt something im good at these days lol :P half the credit goes to Ms Arcbus for both giving me a hand and smacking me across the forehead: telling me to start thinking lol :P read on, review and prepare for more updates real soon **


	6. Chapter 5: Her Past

**Chapter Five: Her Past**

Cloud, Tifa and Barret have just barely escaped the pillar collapse of Sector Seven. Barret is the first to get to his feet; he rushes towards the rubble sealed gate which once lead to the seventh sector.

"Marlene!? MARLENE!! MARLEEEEEENE!!" He cries. "Biggs!? Wedge!? Jessie!?"

The large man slams his gun-arm on the debris loudly.

"Dammit! Goddammit!! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!! What the _hell's _it all for!? ARRGHHH!!"

Cloud quietly walks up behind him.

"Hey, Barret..." He says.

"Barret!" Tifa choruses, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"AAAAAAAARGH!!" Barret continues to slam his gun-arm into the wall of debris.

"Hey!" Cloud says quickly.

"Barret, stop... Please, stop, Barret..." Pleads Tifa.

Ignoring her, Barret raises his gun-arm and opens fire on the debris, but with little result, he falls to his knees onto the dusty stone ground of the sector entrance.

"God damn..." He sighs. "Marlene..."

"...Barret?" Tifa says again. "Marlene is... I think Marlene is safe..."

Barret turns to Tifa slowly. "Huh...?"

"Right before they took the pair of them, Aeris said, 'Don't worry, she's all right'. She was probably talking about Marlene."

"R-Really!?" Barret asks, standing, with new found motivation.

"But..." Tifa continues in a saddened tone.

Barret shakes his head, lamenting again. "Biggs... Wedge... Jessie..."

"All three of them were in the pillar." Says Cloud.

"Think I don't know that!" Barret snaps at the Ex-SOLDIER. "But, we... All of us fought together. I don't wanna think of 'em as dead!!"

"And... The other people in Sector Seven..." Tifa adds.

"This is all screwed up! They destroy an entire village just to get us! They killed so many people!" Growls Barret.

"Are you saying that it's our fault?" Tifa asks. "Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives... Because of us?"

"No, Tifa! That ain't it! Hell no! It ain't us!" Barret sharply objects. "It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the Shinra! They're evil and destroyin' our planet just to... Build their power and line their own damn pockets with gold!!"

He turns and kicks a nearby pebble hard.

"If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill this planet! Our fight ain't never gonna be over until we get rid of them!!"

"...I don't know..." Tifa sighs.

"What don't you know!?" He continues, frowning. "You don't believe me?"

"It's not that. I'm not sure about _me_... My feelings."

"An' what about you?" Barret asks aloud, turning to the Ex-Soldier.

Cloud doesn't reply. Without a word, he walks away from the other two.

"Yo! Where's he think he's goin'?"

"Oh!" Tifa realises, and replies. "Aeris and Sparda!"

"Oh yeah, that girl and that lad. What's up with them?" Barret remembers and asks further.

Tifa shakes her head slightly. "I don't really know. But... She's the one I left Marlene with."

Barret begins to rush after Cloud.

"Damn! Marlene!!" He yells, before turning to look at Tifa. "There ain't no turnin' back now!"

He continues to rush ahead. Tifa sighs slightly, before she heads off to follow the other two.

--

Meanwhile, at the Shinra Headquarters, the Turks' helicopter lands on the rooftop of the building. Tseng, with Sparda's Guitar Sword in his right hand, motions to Aeris to get out with his gun in his left; the two exit the helicopter. Sparda begins to rouse from the dart just as Rude exits the cockpit.

"A-Aeris...?" He stutters sleepily.

Rude opens the door next to the youth, letting in the heavy wind created by both the chopper's slowing blades and the pressure of the height of the building.

"Y-You... Wha... What did you... Do with... Aeris...?" Sparda snaps his eyes open feebly and enquires.

Ignoring his question altogether, Rude simply drags the drugged youth out of the chopper and then lifts him to his feet and forces him to walk.

"She's right here kid, safe and sound." Tseng tells him, with Aeris handcuffed and stood next to him. "But how long she stays that way depends on your attitude..."

"Sparda..." She says.

"You're not gonna hurt her, no matter how I behave." Sparda says, overcoming the side effects of the tranquilliser.

Tseng frowns as he points the gun at Aeris's neck.

"What makes you so sure, you cocky little bastard?"

Sparda closes his eyes momentarily.

"You wouldn't have taken so much effort to take her in alive if you were meaning to kill her, besides..."

He quickly butts Rude in the nose using the back of his head, and rushes at Tseng only to feel the end of a rifle connect with his stomach thanks to a nearby Shinra soldier.

"Sparda!" Aeris cries.

Tseng walks over to the youth as he just falls to his knees.

"Watch your temper." He says briefly, before kneeing him in the face, busting his lip heavily and causing Aeris to wince. "Or... There'll be worse to come."

Rude recomposes himself and lifts Sparda up again, but not before delivering a heavy punch to the youth's spine, causing him to wheeze.

"That will be quite enough, you two..." A voice says from a short distance away.

The doorway to the inside of the Shinra building opens and a scientist in a faded white lab coat with medium-length black hair in a messy ponytail walks out.

"Professor Hojo..." Tseng nods.

"At long last we meet, Ancient." Hojo says, walking over to Aeris.

Aeris simply closes her eyes. Hojo raises an eyebrow and then looks at Sparda.

"What do we have here?" He asks, unimpressed. "Not another Ancient, clearly, so what made you bring him along?"

Tseng hands the Guitar Sword over to Hojo. "He was using this, not to mention his skill in combat. I imagine it would equal a SOLDIER's."

"A SOLDIER's skill, eh?" Hojo replies, observing the weapon and addressing Sparda. "An interesting instrument. Where did you find such a thing?"

Sparda spits out a little blood. "Go fuck yourself, freak!"

"Hmph! Quite a mouth you've got there. And in front of a lady, too." Hojo chuckles.

He then snaps his fingers and almost instantly two Shinra soldiers rush and stand behind the scientist.

"Take him to the holding cells next to the other one." He orders the soldiers, before he speaks to Sparda again in a menacing tone. "I'll worry about _you _later!"

The soldiers secure the youth and remove his gauntlets and greaves before they drag him into the building. Hojo then motions for a third soldier to come over; when he does so, he is handed the Guitar Sword, the gauntlets and the greaves and motioned to follow the others.

"For now, we're going to have a little talk, my dear." Hojo says to Aeris.

The scientist then walks into the building also, whilst Aeris is forced to follow by Tseng and Rude.

--

_'This wasn't exactly going as I hoped..._

_In one day, I had been almost knocked out by an oversized wrestler, forced to wander through air vents,_

_Electrocuted by my own attack, tranquillised, beaten,_

_And now I was being dragged to some holding cells,_

_I tell you, this wasn't part of the holiday package,_

_I would simply have to wait for Cloud and the others to come and bust me and Aeris out...'_

Inside the Shinra HQ, Sparda has been dragged to the Science Lab Specimen Holding Cells. The two guards enter the holding cells. As they head halfway through, Sparda looks to his left into a room where a young woman, with unusual aqua-green bangs of hair wearing a black tank top and shorts, whom is roughly the same age as Sparda, lays heavily sedated and sound asleep.

The guards open up a cell opposite the hers, remove Sparda's handcuffs and then push him inside, making him fall forwards.

He manages to get up, saying, "I'll remember you, when I get outta here..."

The guards just laugh, lock the door, and walk off. Sparda then slumps down on the bed to his left.

"Well, this is just great. My weapons are gone, Aeris is in Shinra's hands..."

He looked out towards the young woman in her holding cell, whom continues to sleep.

"...And the only company I have is out like a light."

--

Cloud, Tifa and Barret meanwhile arrive at Aeris's house in the next sector, where they find Elmyra.

"Cloud, wasn't it?" Elmyra asked, looking over from behind the table in the main room as the trio enter. "It's... About Aeris, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry. Shinra have her." Cloud says, closing his eyes.

"I know. They took her from here..."

"They were here?" Asks Cloud, frowning.

"That's what Aeris wanted." She tells him.

"But why is Shinra after Aeris?"

Elmyra breathes in deeply. "Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor."

"...What did you say?" Barret asks, puzzled. "But, aren't you her mother?"

"...Not her real mother. Oh... It must have been 15 years ago... During the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai. One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave. My husband never came back... I wondered for a time if something had happened to him. But I became sure his leave was cancelled. I went to the station every day. Then, one day arriving at the station I found a young woman dying with her daughter right next to her. You used to see this kind of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were 'Please take Aeris somewhere safe'. My husband never came back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So, I decided to take her home with me. Aeris and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything. She told me she had escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely... And many other things..."

"Returned to the planet?" Barret asks, trying to take it in.

"I didn't know what she meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky. But, she said it was this planet... She was a mysterious child, in many ways."

_"Mom, please don't cry."_

"Aeris just blurted that out all of a sudden." Elmyra explains. "When I asked her if something had happened..."

_"Someone dear to you had just died. His spirit was coming to see you, but it returned to the planet."_

"At that time, I didn't believe her. But... Several days later... I received a notice saying my husband died... And that's how it was. A lot happened, but we were happy. Until, one day..."

_"We want you to return Aeris to us..." _Tseng tells Elmyra in her memory. _"We've been searching for her for a long time."_

_"No! Never!!"_

_"Aeris, you're a very special child. You are of special blood. Your real mother was an 'Ancient'."_

"Of course I heard it. That she was an Ancient."

_"The Ancients will lead us to a supreme amount of happiness. Aeris will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aeris's cooperation..."_

_"He's wrong! I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!"_

_"But, Aeris, surely you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"_

_"No! I don't!"_

"But, I knew. I knew about her mysterious powers. She tried so hard to hide it, so I act as though I never noticed."

"It's amazing how she's avoided Shinra for all these years..." Cloud says.

"The Shinra needed her, so, I guess they wouldn't harm her." Elmyra replies.

Tifa ponders, "But, why now?"

"She brought a young man called Sparda and a little girl with her. On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. Sparda tried to fend them off but he was caught off guard. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."

"And Sparda?" Tifa asks.

"They took him, too." Elmyra replies, shutting her eyes.

"Then, the little girl must be Marlene." Cloud says.

"Marlene!!" Barret's eyes widen. "Aeris was caught because of Marlene!? I'm sorry. Marlene's my daughter. I'm... Really sorry..."

Elmyra replies astoundingly, with a hint of scolding. "You're her father!? How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that!?"

"...Please, don't start with that." Barret tries to be as calm as possible. "I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene if I... But, you gotta understand somethin'... I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene... But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't... The planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried 'bout Marlene. I just really wanna be with her, always."

He closes his eyes in frustration.

"See? I'm goin' in circles now."

Elmyra nods her head slightly. "I think I understand what you're saying... She's upstairs asleep. Why don't you go see her?"

Barret rushes upstairs, and Cloud shortly follows behind him.

In the spare room, Barret grips his daughter in a crushing hug.

"Marlene! I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're all right!!"

"Daddy! Don't cry." She yelps. "Your whiskers hurt!"

Barret releases her and turns to Cloud. "Cloud! You gonna go help Aeris, right? She's done so much for me... If it's the Shinra you're dealin' with, I can't just sit here! I'm comin' too!"

Cloud nods, as Marlene walks up to him and talks quietly to him.

"Guess what? Guess what? Aeris was asking me lots of questions. Like what kind of person Cloud is. I bet she likes you, Cloud!"

"Let's hope so." Cloud smiles.

Marlene grins and winks. "I won't tell Tifa!"

Cloud then goes back downstairs and heads for the front door.

Just before he can leave, Tifa stops him and asks, "You're going after Aeris and Sparda, right?"

"Yeah." He nods in response.

"I'm coming with you." She says.

"We're going to the Shinra Headquarters." He agrees, also explaining. "You gotta be prepared for the worst."

"I know. Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here... I'd go crazy."

Barret suddenly rushes downstairs, and approaches Elmyra.

"Sorry, but, can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?" He asks.

"Yes, I don't mind." Elmyra smiles.

"This place is dangerous now." Continues Barret. "You better go somewhere safe."

"You're right." She says, patting him on the shoulder. "But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."

Cloud's group say their goodbyes and exit Aeris and Elmyra's house.

As they head to Sector Six, Tifa asks, "How do we get to the Shinra building?"

"There ain't no train that goes up there anymore." Barret replies.

"...Well..." Tifa says. "Let's just go to Wall Market. We might be able to find something there."

--

**The text written in Italic other then the Voice Over paragraphs is what occurred in the past, those who have played FF7 will know what I'm talking about : ) somehow im still brain storming over the up coming chapters :D I promise once they're complete they'll be up and running on good old . Once again my partner Arcbus takes half the credit for the writing and formulation of this chapter! Well? Read on and review!**


	7. Chapter 6: Breakout and Encounter

**Chapter Six: Breakout and Encounter**

The young woman in the Shinra Building Specimen Holding Cells across the hallway from Sparda begins to awaken in her cell.

Sparda looks over as she slowly sits up. "About time, all you seem to do is sleep!"

She simply tosses her head slightly and opens her eyes, revealing them to be almost as blue and as dark as Cloud's.

"So, what's your name, sweetheart?" Sparda asks politely.

The girl sits up on her bed, and blinks a few times.

After no response, Sparda raises an eyebrow. "Helloooooo?"

She momentarily glares at the youth, then turns away to stare outside the cell window, despite how small it is.

Sparda frowns and folds his arms.

"Hmph, that isn't being the 'mysterious silent type', you know? You're just being plain rude!" He says, in a huff.

Just then, Hojo walks up to Sparda's cell with the same two guards from before either side of him.

"She won't respond to you, boy." He tells him. "We believe her to be an Ancient, just like the other one."

"Well, whoopdy doo! What do you intend to do with them, Hojo?" Sparda asks sarcastically. "Find the 'Promised Land'? Or you up to something even the ol' Presidente isn't aware of?"

"That is none of your concern and that's all you need to know!" Hojo glares daggers at the youth. "Now, any more questions before we put you forward for experimentation?"

Sparda glares back, and scoffs, "Yeah, I've got a good one: Were you born that damn ugly, or did you have to work at it?"

"Take him to the experiment room!" Hojo says to the guards venomously with a slight smirk.

The two guards open the cell door and drag Sparda out. They then follow Hojo down the cell block and through the prison doors.

-------------------

Thirty minutes later, in the rising elevator of the Shinra building, Cloud, Tifa and Barret have managed to infiltrate the HQ.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asks Cloud.

"I didn't want to start a ruckus until we saved Aeris and Sparda, though thanks to _him_, we've been detected..." Cloud replies, looking at Barret as he refers to him.

"Heh, heh, heh..." Barret laughs in response, shaking his head a little.

"What is it?" Cloud asks curtly. "You're givin' me the willies."

"So, there are times when even you fight for other people. I am impressed." Barret says.

"...Who cares if you're impressed?"

Barret slaps his chest once. "Hey! Let's remember who got us up 'ere, alright? If it weren't for me, we'd still be stuck in the Wall Market..."

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to threaten the store owner to give us that battery to get here now, did you?" Sighs Tifa.

"Heh, heh, heh..."

The elevator suddenly halts at the 66th floor.

"Okay! We gonna rock!" Barret says, cocking his gun-arm.

"Remember, we're here to save the guys first, Barret." Tifa tells him.

He rolls his eyes out of annoyance. "Hell, I know that!"

The trio head out of the open elevator doors and walk through the hall past what appears to be a conference room. At that moment in time, President Shinra and several other of his colleagues are engrossed in a meeting.

Cloud presses his back against the wall closest to the door. "Sounds like there's a major discussion going on - could be about Aeris..."

"Well, let's gate crash 'em!" Barret says, bracing himself in preparation of kicking down the door.

Tifa kicks Barret in the shin, causing him to yelp out (quietly).

"If we do that, we may as well give ourselves up! There's gotta be a way to eavesdrop on them." She says, scanning the room and spotting a nearby restroom. "Maybe there's a conditioning vent in there?"

The group, agreeing, head into the restroom and upon investigation of one of the cubicles in said area they discover a vent in the ceiling.

Cloud speaks in an amused tone as he stands on the toilet seat and opens the hatch. "Nice guess, Tifa."

She simply shrugs in response and follows the two guys in after they have climbed in the vent, making sure to shut it behind her.

Barret groans in discomfort whilst he crawls with difficulty through the vent. "Jesus! It's cramped in here!"

"Shh!" The Ex-SOLDIER snaps. "We don't wanna get caught!"

"Let's just get there." Tifa says with a sigh.

After a short while crawling through, they reach the vent grate overlooking the conference room.

"Finally!" Barret says, before looking down at the colleagues. "Geez! That's alotta suits!"

Cloud and Tifa hush him, so that they can listen in.

"We have the damage estimates for Sector Seven." Reeve says below, reading from a charter. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the estimated cost to rebuild Sector Seven is..."

"We're not rebuilding." President Shinra interjects.

Reeve frowns. "What!?"

"We're leaving Sector Seven as it is, and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan."

"Then... The Ancients?"

"The Promised Land will soon be ours... Raise the Mako rates fifteen percent in every area."

Another Shinra executive - Palmer, a short, plump, balding man - begins to do a silly jig in his seat. "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra-la-la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!"

"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase." The President says, clearly ignoring Palmer, who is openly disappointed at this.

"Oh man!"

"Sir, if you raise the rates, people will lose confidence." Reeve says cautiously.

"It'll be alright. The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra Inc. even more."

"Hahahaha!" Heidegger laughs loudly. "After all, we're the ones who saved Sector Seven from AVALANCHE!"

"That dirty bastard!" Barret growls quietly in the duct.

President Shinra looks to his right, as Hojo enters the conference room. "Hojo, how's the girl?"

"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is eighteen percent." Hojo replies.

"How long will the research take?" Asks the President.

Hojo sighs slightly. "Probably 120 years."

Half of the conference room, President Shinra included, sigh in disappointment. Hojo continues, ignoring this.

"It's impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time."

"What about the Promised Land? Won't this hinder our plans?" The President enquires.

"That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong... And yet she has her weaknesses."

"And what of the boy, what of him?"

"We're already evaluating whether or not he is an Ancient. It's early stages for now, though also it is highly unlikely - but either way Tseng was right to bring him in." Hojo frowns. "Especially with a weapon such as his."

"I see." President Shinra says with a deep sigh. "The Ancient is our first priority, Hojo. I expect a report on your research within a fortnight. This meeting is adjourned."

The executives all raise from their seats and begin to leave. Just before following them, Scarlet - a blonde woman wearing a red dress - turns and sniffs the air in suspicion.

"Something stinks..." She says, before pacing off towards the door.

Cloud contemplates over what the Shinra had said. "They were talking about Aeris and Sparda, right?"

"I dunno." Barret says.

"Probably." Tifa nods.

"...Let's follow 'em."

The trio head out of the vent and back into the restroom.

"Never again!" Barret takes a sigh of relief. "It was _way _too cramped in there."

Cloud simply shakes his head and heads out of the rest room first, with the other two following suite. They make their way across the 66th floor to the steps leading upwards to the 67th, noticing Hojo climbing them when they arrive.

"Hojo, huh?" The blonde says quietly.

They follow him up the stairs, carefully, so as to make sure they don't get caught at the same time.

"I remember him." Barret says whilst they follow. "That Hojo guy, he's in charge of the Shinra's Science Department. Cloud, d'ya know him?"

"This is the first time I've ever actually seen him." Cloud replies. "So... That's what he looks like."

They continue to follow him cautiously across the Science Department on floor 67. Upon reaching the far end, Hojo looks at a fire-red lion-like creature motionless inside a glass chamber.

_"My precious specimen."_

A man walks up to him whilst he begins to prod his index finger at the glass.

"Is this to be today's specimen?"

With his trademark grin, Hojo responds. "Yes. We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level..."

He then walks off further to a lift leading to the laboratory on the upper floor in the back.

The group proceed to the glass chamber after Hojo has disappeared.

"Specimen?" Tifa enquires with a slight pitiful frown whilst leaning down to examine the creature. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

Cloud isn't looking at the lion-like animal, but instead is looking towards a metallic, well-sealed chamber opposite. The Ex-SOLDIER peers into the single window to see a woman-like figure submerged in liquid that appears to glow a faint pink. The most strikingly obvious thing about the figure is that its head is missing.

"Jenova?"

After a few seconds, Cloud falls to his knees, clasping his forehead; his eyes wide open and dilated in what appears to be agony.

"Jenova... Sephiroth's... So... They... They've brought it... Here...!?"

Tifa rushes over to Cloud and places a hand on his shoulder. "Cloud, be strong!"

"Did you see it?" He says to the other two.

"See what?" asks a puzzled Barret.

Cloud tilts his head a little. "It's moving... Still... Alive?"

Curiously, Barret looks into the window of the chamber, and then turns with a look of surprise.

"Where!? Where's its fuckin' head!?" He says before blinking and shaking his head. "This whole thing's stupid! Let's keep goin'. Sparda and Aeris need us!"

To this, he runs for the laboratory elevator, as Cloud recovers and manages to get to his feet.

"Are you alright, Cloud?" Tifa asks in concern, whilst scooping up an orb of green Poison Materia in her hands.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He replies.

They follow Barret onto the lift, and begin to head upwards...

-------------------

"Well, looks like they managed to get you in there, m'boy!" Hojo grins to Sparda, who is chained up in a glass pod like Aeris. "Now, you'll see what I do as part of my research."

"Attempt to get a lion-dog and a woman 'down to it'!?" Sparda interrupts. "In your dreams, you sick fuck! That story I read about you being a lover of frogs was but a hint of truth behind your demented mind!"

"You little!" Hojo flares with anger.

"Aww, what's wrong, Hojo? Did I touch a nerve? If a story's just a story, then why're you so pissed?"

"...I'm going to enjoy opening you up to see what makes you so cocky, brat."

Hojo looks at Aeris in her chamber, then at his apprentice behind a control panel on the second level of the laboratory, and nods.

The brunette girl's eyes widen. "Sparda!?"

"Don't worry Aeris!" The teen shouts. "The guys're gonna be here any moment!"

The lift from the floor just arrives, and the trio rush out.

"They're already here!" Barret yells with a grin, cocking his gun-arm.

"Aeris!" Shouts Cloud.

"Aeris? Oh. Is that her name?" Hojo asks coldly as he gazes at the trio. "What do you want?"

"We're taking Aeris and Sparda." Cloud replies with his Buster Sword unsheathed.

Hojo narrows his eyes. "Outsiders..."

"Shoulda noticed it earlier, ya--" Barret begins, before he is interrupted by the scientist.

"...There are so many frivolous things in this world."

Barret aims his mechanical gun-arm at him.

"What are you going to do, kill me?" Hojo enquires sarcastically. "I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it, hmm?"

Cloud grumbles with frustration.

"That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves." He continues, before again turning to his assistant. "Now! Bring the specimen!"

The man presses a button on the control panel that brings up the now awake red lion-like creature from the lower floor through an elevator inside the chamber to where Aeris is. The creature flickers it's fiery tail furiously as it growls with depth at the defenceless young woman only feet away.

"Cloud! Help!" Aeris panics.

The Ex-SOLDIER grabs Hojo by the collar of his shirt. "What do you think you're doing!?"

"Lending a helping hand to these two endangered species." He replies in a carefree tone. "Both of these animals are almost extinct. If I don't help, they will all disappear."

Tifa doesn't believe what the scientist is saying. "Animal!? That's terrible! Aeris is a human being!"

"You gonna pay!" Barret bellows.

Cloud looks at him after he shoves Hojo to the floor. "Barret, can't you do anything!?"

"Awright! Step back!!" Barret aims at the glass chamber.

"Stop!" Yells Hojo as he gets up, but Barret quickly opens fire on the glass chamber. "What... What are you...!? Oh, my precious specimens!"

The chamber begins to glow momentarily, and then the door opens. As soon as it does so, the lion creature leaps out and tackles Hojo, throwing him backwards, and begins mauling him.

"Aeris!" Cloud cries, rushing into the chamber and grabbing the brunette.

"Thanks, Cloud." She says with a gratifying smile as they head back out of it.

Tifa meanwhile rushes over to Sparda's chamber and breaks the lock with a heavy kick. She then enters and helps him out of the chains.

The youth rubs his sore wrists. "Thanks, Tif."

She then notices that Cloud is stood looking suspicious. "What's wrong, Cloud?"

The blonde frowns, listening to the sound of the chamber lift.

"The elevator is moving." He replies.

"This is no ordinary specimen!" Hojo says, almost sounding worried. "This is a very ferocious specimen!"

The lion-like creature stops mauling Hojo, giving the scientist chance to escape. "It's rather strong. I'll help you all out."

"It talked!" Tifa says in surprise.

The beast turns to the chamber lift.

"I'll talk as much as you want later, Miss." He tells her.

"We'll take care of that monster. Someone take Aeris somewhere safe." Cloud says. "Barret, Tifa! I'm counting on you guys!"

Barret and Tifa nod, and they run off with Aeris towards the lift to the lower floor, shutting the gate behind them.

"What's your name?" Cloud asks the lion-like creature.

"Hojo has named me Red XIII, a name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish."

Sparda rushes over to a nearby table where his Guitar Sword is being scanned by a computer. He knocks the computer off and grabs his weapon.

"Red XIII sounds good to me!" He shouts over, before looking at his weapon. "Boy, I've missed you!"

He rushes over to Red XIII and Cloud at the chamber door as the Sample:HO512 monster is lifted into the laboratory. With a loud hiss, it attacks.

_BATTLE!!!_

Sample:HO512 raises its tentacles above its mutated head and prepares to lash at Red XIII, whom quickly dashes to the left, just missing being slammed hard. The lion-like creature then snarls briefly before lashing at the mutant with his razor-sharp fangs exposed. The Sample monster howls as Red XIII's fangs sink into its monstrous flesh, and attempts to shake its assailant off.

"Get it now!" Cloud shouts, preparing to charge.

Both the Ex-SOLDIER and youth charge with their swords and hack off the Sample:HO512's tentacles, causing slimy green blood to spurt everywhere. The monster screams with a high pitch wail that forces Red XIII to let go for the sake of his hearing.

The Fire Materia on Sparda's Guitar Sword glows brightly, then almost instantly the entire sword appears to be aflame.

"Element of Fire... IMBUE MY BLADE! FIRE SLASH!"

Sparda swings the flaming weapon vertically, causing a fireball to shoot out at the mutant, setting it ablaze; almost instantly after being ignited, Sample:HO512 exhales a misty green gas from its mouth.

"Don't breathe it in!" Red XIII warns, rushing from it. "That's its Shady Breath! It's toxic!"

Both Cloud and Sparda back off to avoid the attack, giving the monster time to extinguish itself. Moments later, it regenerates the tentacles it lost.

"Great..." Sparda says, irritated. "Back to square one..."

Both Cloud and Sparda start to feel as if their fury flowed through their veins.

_'At that moment I felt a huge surge of power, just like when I shared my first battle with Cloud and Aeris..._

_It was then that I realised what it was..._

_These were my Limit Breaks, and it was then that I learned how to call them forth...'_

Sparda braces for the Limit. "On three!"

Cloud nods and also braces.

**1!**

Sample:HO512 rears up for a second Shady Breath.

**2!**

The Sample makes a huge inhaling roar.

**3!**

Both men rush at Sample: HO512.

"BRAVER!" Cloud yells, raising his Buster Sword up high and slamming it down on the monster.

"SPLITTER!" Sparda cries, lifting his Guitar Sword and leaping high into the air before bringing it down on the Sample.

The two heavy slashes hit their mark at exactly the same time, sending the monster flying backwards before it can use its technique.

Red XIII roars as he charges. "SLED FANG!"

The lion-like creature conjures an aura of static blue energy, and suddenly rushes right through Sample:HO512, tearing it to pieces and thus killing it. He then leaps back to where the other two are stood.

"And that's that!" They say in sync.

Cloud and Sparda sheathe their swords, as Red XIII relaxes.

_BATTLE OVER…_

Sparda takes a deep breath before sitting down. "Great work, guys!"

"Aeris! You alright?" Cloud calls over.

Tifa opens the lift door. "She seems alright. In many ways."

The red beast growls. "I have the right to choose, too. I don't like two-legged things."

The trio join Cloud and the others.

"What are you?" Barret asks, looking at Red XIII.

"An informed question. But difficult to answer. I am what you see." Red XIII responds quietly. "You must have many questions, but first, let's get out of here. I'll lead the way."

Aeris smiles at the Ex-SOLDIER. "Cloud... So, you did come for me!"

Almost instantly, Red leaps to a space near Aeris, making her a little anxious.

"I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard." He tells her.

The flower girl nods and smiles her warm smile.

"Now we've saved these guys, ain't no need to be is this buildin'!" Barret says impatiently. "So let's get the hell outta here!"

Sparda goes quiet for a moment, as he collects his Gauntlets and Greaves from the same table that his sword was on.

"If all six of us go together, we'll be noticed." Cloud ponders, before deciding. "Let's break up in two groups. Tifa and Barret you come with me."

The two of them nod, as Sparda finishes equipping his equipment.

"Which means Aeris and Red, you guys are with me." He says, and they both nod.

"I'll see you later, Cloud!" Aeris says. "We'll be waiting at the 66th floor elevator."

"Don't be late. Do you know where the Elevator is? The 66th Floor!" Red XIII says.

Sparda gives the other group of three a small salute-type wave, before heading down the lift with Aeris and Red XIII.

-------------------

As they travel across the floors to the 66th floor elevator, Sparda pauses momentarily.

"I wonder..." He says.

"Is there something on your mind?" Aeris asks, looking at the teen with curiosity.

"When I was in the holding cells, there was a girl, not that much younger than me." Sparda explains. "They were testing her, too..."

He nods to himself.

"...I'm going back for her!"

"We're coming with you." Red XIII says.

"No, I need you to take Aeris to the elevator." Sparda interrupts, before the other two begin to object. "Please, let me do this. I'm going alone because I can slip through a lot easier by myself."

He prepares to run.

"I'm going. I'll catch up with you guys as soon as I can - I promise!"

The youth gives a quick smile to the other two, then starts to run, but the brunette grabs his shoulder.

"Sparda, don't go off alone!" She says in a responsible-sounding way. "It's way too dangerous!"

He closes his eyes without turning around.

"I know, but if I'm caught, at least you guys can escape." He sighs deeply.

"Sparda, you're not..." Aeris begins firmly...

...Sparda quickly turns, without opening his eyes, and kisses Aeris very deeply, cutting her sentence off and causing the flower girl to loosen her grip on his shoulder for a brief moment, just enough for him to part their lips and then carry on running.

Whilst running, he turns.

"Red! Look after Aeris!" He says, heading to the T junction to the Specimen Holding Cells.

Aeris's eyes had now opened wide, while her fingers lightly tapped her lips. "Sparda..."

"That one sure has spirit." Red XIII sighs.

She smiles. "Yeah. That's one of his better qualities... Let's go."

The two then head for the elevator again.

"Be careful, Sparda..."

-------------------

_'I never actually thought it would come to that, but a kiss like that was the only was I could get her to let me go..._

_I wondered then if I had made a mistake in doing so..._

_Was I intervening too much in this game...?_

_A part of me thought so, but another part of me wasn't so sure..._

_It would be a problem I would have to let pass by and hope the repercussions weren't so severe as I feared they could be...'_

The youth arrives outside the main door to the Holding Cells; peering through the bars, he sees the two guards in deep conversation.

"This is gonna be rough..." He says to himself, before he clenches his fists and busts through the door.

"Wha? What the hell!?" One of the guards yells, grasping his riot club.

"Did you miss me?" Sparda asks with a taunting grin.

The other guard rushes at the teen. "GET 'EM!"

_BATTLE_

The guards charge at Sparda, whom braces himself and then rushes at them; the first guard attempts to shoulder tackle the youth, but instead feels the brunt of a heavy kick from Sparda's greave-protected foot, and is sent backwards, rendered unconscious

"Next?"

The second guard swings at the youth with his truncheon, every swing missing, unfortunately for him. Sparda rams into the guards chest with his arm locked with his chest, then follows up by grabbing the guard's head, and smacking it into the wall hard enough to knock him out.

"Well, that was easy."

_BATTLE OVER_

Sparda then grabs a small set of keys off of one of the guards, and opens a nearby cell. He then drags the guards in and locks the door.

"Told you I'd remember you two..." He shrugs.

He then rushes over to the young woman's cell to find that she is fast asleep again. Sparda opens her cell door and tries rousing her.

"Hey! C'mon! Now's not nap time!" He says, shaking her. "I'm here to get you outta here, now wake up!"

The youth suddenly feels the barrel of a gun at the back of his neck and the sound of the hammer being cocked. From his angle he sees that there is a woman in the Turks' uniform stood behind him.

"Don't move..." She says.

In a tiresome voice, Sparda drones. "Shit..."

-------------------

Twenty minutes later, in President Shinra's office on the highest floor of the building, Sparda is forced to walk in by gunpoint, in handcuffs, by the same member of the Turks. When he has reached the others whom are already there, she salutes President Shinra, nods in acknowledgement to Rude, whom is stood silently overlooking the prisoners, and leaves the room.

"Hey guys, they got you too?" Sparda says, unsurprised.

Cloud looks at Sparda and sighs, then speaks to President Shinra. "Where is Aeris!?"

"She's in a safe place. She's the last surviving Ancient." The President tells him in a mild tone as he paces around the space surrounding his desk. "...Don't you know? They called themselves the Cetra, and lived thousands of years ago. Now they are just a forgotten page in history."

"Cetra..." Red XIII contemplates. "That girl, she is the survivor of the Cetra?"

"Cetra, or the Ancients, will show is the way to the 'Promised Land'." President Shinra continues, smirking. "I'm expecting a lot out of her."

"Promised Land? Isn't that just a legend?" The red beast asks.

The President shrugs. "Even so, it's just too appealing to not to pursue. It's been said that the Promised Land is very fertile... If the land is fertile..."

"Then there's gotta be Mako!" Barret and Sparda chorus in perfect sync.

"Exactly." The President clicks his fingers. "That is why our money sucking Mako Reactor is necessary. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory..."

"Fuck! Quit dreamin'!" Barret spits.

"Oh really, don't you know? These days, all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power." President Shinra says, looking in an amused way at Sparda. "And as for you, you're too are of interest, so we have plenty of use for you."

"Yeah? You and what army!?" Sparda asks mockingly.

"Unless you haven't noticed, the one that patrols this city..."

The youth coughs. "Wow, really!? Unless _you _haven't noticed - asshole - unless you bribe people to kiss your arse, your army has only two things: Jack and Shit, and Jack said _fuck you_!"

The group tries not to laugh, as does Rude.

The President scowls. "Hojo was right about you, you don't know when to keep your mouth shut... Well, that is all for our meeting."

"Time to go." Rude says in a gruff tone.

"HOLD IT! I got a lot I wanna say to you!!" Barret yells, as he is dragged away by Rude, whilst the group is escorted away to the cells.

"If you need something else..." President Shinra says insultingly. "...Talk to my secretary."

-------------------

Sparda is pushed by a guard into the same prison cell as the already present Aeris, which is promptly locked behind him.

"Sparda! Are you alright?" Aeris asks in a jittery voice, getting up and hugging the youth. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a million bucks." He replies, hugging back. "Glad you're alright."

She gives him an annoyed look after they let go. "You shouldn't have run off like that, you know!?"

"Still angry about that kiss, then... I guess..." He sighs.

Aeris's annoyed look lifts into a cheeky smile.

"Well, if you call _that _a kiss..." She giggles.

Sparda just sits on the cell floor and looks up at her.

"Well, not bad for me, I guess." He smiles, before he suddenly yawns. "God. I didn't know I was so tired..."

"You can't sleep on the floor." Aeris says.

"Better me than you, Aeris." He tells her, whilst lying backwards to fall asleep.

She smiles gently.

"Goodnight Sparda..."

Just then, the brunette lifts her head after hearing something in the adjacent cell.

"I wonder how Aeris is doing?"

"Cloud? Are you there?" She responds.

"Aeris! You safe?" Cloud asks through the wall.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I have Sparda here with me. I knew that Cloud would come for me."

"Hey, I'm your bodyguard, right?"

Aeris gives a teasing chuckle.

"The deal was for one date, right?"

"...Oh... I get it." Tifa's voice piques up coldly.

"Tifa!? Tifa, you're there too!?" Aeris says in surprise.

Sarcastically, Tifa responds. "_Excuse _me! You know, Aeris. I have a question."

"What?"

"Does the Promised Land really exist?"

"I... Don't know." Aeris tells her, unsure. "All I know is... The Cetra were born from the Planet; they speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet. And... Then... The Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness."

Tifa is puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"More than words... I don't know." Aeris says, closing her eyes.

"Speak with the Planet?" Cloud frowns.

"Just what does the Planet say?" Asks Tifa.

"It's full of people and noisy. That's why I can't make out what they are saying."

"You hear it now?" The Ex-SOLDIER enquires.

Aeris shakes her head.

"I... I only heard it at the church in the slums. Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is... My _real _mother. Someday I'll get out of Midgar... I'll speak with the Planet, and find my Promised Land... That's what Mom said. I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but..."

"You never stopped..." Sparda mumbles, half awake.

"I'm sorry." Aeris says gently. "Did we wake you?"

"It takes me a while to sleep sometimes." He tells her. "Cloud, how you coping?"

"Fine." Cloud's voice replies. "Tifa's here with me."

Sparda sighs. "I'm sorry..."

"About what?" Asks Tifa.

"Not being around when I needed to be..."

"You mean the girl in the other cells?" Cloud says.

"Mhmmm... Yeah."

"You were just trying to help somebody." Tifa tells him. "There's nothing wrong with that, so don't be sorry."

"I... I guess." Sparda says slowly. "Thanks, guys."

Again, he closes his eyes, and this time, the youth falls asleep.

_'The floor wasn't exactly the best place to sleep, but I just kept thinking, just for this one night..._

_For when I woke up, I would find the door open, as Sephiroth would've come and slaughtered many of the Shinra employees in this building..._

_And of course, a gentleman should always let the lady have the bed, right? Hehehe...'_

**And there we go ^_^ we have a new chapter at last :P hope you all read and enjoyed it :D**

**This chapter was brought to you as always by the duo: Arcbus and Phoenix Helix!**


	8. Chapter 7: The Escape

**Chapter Seven: The Escape**

At around quarter-past four in the early morning, a clicking noise causes Sparda to awaken. He listens to it intently, then silently gets up and heads towards the cell door, which is ajar, as he had expected before he went to sleep.

"Right on time..." He yawns to himself.

He opens the door and slips through into the main corridor... Only to be greeted with the teal-haired woman from the holding cells.

"You!? How did you know tha-- Did you..." Sparda begins in surprise, seeing that the young woman is now fully equipped with a pair of sharp rings that were held in thick gloved hands - and also seeing the dead body of a guard slumped nearby.

Quickly, she turns and darts off down the hallway before he can finish his sentence.

"Hey! Get back here!" He shouts.

The youth proceeds to run after her, making sure to - as quickly as possible - obtain his Guitar Sword from the security office first.

_This was completely unlike the game entirely..._

_Sephiroth was the one to kill all the guards, not this woman..._

_Who she was was my main question; I didn't recognise her at all..._

_If I could just catch her, then maybe I'd get a few answers..._

In the chase, she makes another turn and takes the lift up to the laboratory, leaving Sparda to wait. He does so only briefly until he notices an emergency ladder at the side of the lift, which he climbs up promptly.

"M-m-m-made it..." He sighs after pulling himself off the last bar of the ladder and into the room.

Sparda looks around the lab, and finds the girl already at the large glass window on the other side of the room.

"Hey!!" He yells. "Will you wait!!?"

She turns and glares at him.

"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you." Sparda says, putting up his hands. "I just wanna know who you are, that's all!"

He begins to walk at a steady pace towards her, but she instantly puts up her dual rings in defensive preparation.

"C'mon, love. I don't wanna fight you..." He tells her, continuing across the floor.

The youth tries to get closer, however, the young woman's eyes sharpen and she swings one of the razor-sharp rings at him. Sparda narrowly manages to block the attack by grabbing the Guitar Sword in time to parry.

"Stop it!"

She then swings the other ring at him, which he intercepts, but she then follows up with a low kick, knocking him off his feet.

Sparda groans, and gets up, his patience wearing thin. "Okay, now you're asking for it."

He recuperates, entering a battle stance.

"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you get!"

_BATTLE_

Quietly, the girl laughs. There is a piece of green materia in her left ring, and as she laughs, it glows. She uses it to summon an ice spell, intending to freeze Sparda to the spot, but he blocks it with a massive swing of his sword. However, she then pushes the sword sideways and manages to deliver a heavy kick to his ribcage, sending him backwards.

"You little..." Sparda growls whilst clutching his rib. "That's _it_!!"

He gets back on his feet, and then stands still, charging the energy within him for a limit. Then, changing his stance, he plays a rift on the sword, causing a band of energy to envelope the blade.

"RIFT... BLADE!!!"

The energy is directed as a shockwave at the young woman when Sparda swings the sword horizontally in her direction. She simply jumps back and then folds the dual rings in a cross shape close to her body as the energy connects with her, causing several deep cuts, but nothing too severe. She then laughs again, and resumes her stance.

"What the...?" Sparda says to himself, frowning. "She should've been a little more hurt than that..."

The youth then rushes at the girl, and swings vertically but is parried by the woman, who then performs a somersault and kicks the blade of the Guitar Sword hard, causing Sparda to drop it.

"Ouch... Damn it..." He grumbles whilst clutching his hand, before he looks at the Guitar Sword, which has split down the middle and collapsed into two swords. Quickly, he picks them up. "Groovy..."

_At that moment I learned a new trick with my weapon..._

_It could become two separate swords..._

_Then, at any point, I could reattach them..._

Sparda's eyes thin as he lunges for the young woman, swings with the left sword, and is parried. He proceeds to swing both blades in a tornado-like manner, and catches her off guard.

"Ahh!" She cries - overtaken by the assault - dropping her rings to the floor with a clash.

"Finally, something comes out." Sparda mutters, holding both swords in her direction. "Now... Tell me your name!"

A few moments pass, and the girl looks downwards to the cold floor and sighs.

"...It's been... So long..."

She looks to the vast window, out into the early morning twilight, then back at Sparda, who frowns and lowers the swords.

"'So long'...? Since what?" He asks, but is then distracted by a noise from the corridor.

Suddenly, six soldiers, fully armed with machine guns, head in and surround them both.

"We'll talk about this later!" The youth says, taking up his stance again.

In disregard, the woman grabs her rings from the floor and dashes swiftly past two of the guards, knocking them down. She proceeds at her fast pace towards the window and leaps out, shattering the glass, and disappearing into the cold, dark night.

"Thanks a lot..." Sparda sighs.

"We'll find the girl later, take him out, men!" The squad leader orders.

The soldiers position their guns but then are all shot dead from multiple shots from another heavy machine gun. Sparda looks over his shoulder to be greeted with Barret, cocking his gun arm.

Sparda wipes his forehead. "Thanks..."

_BATTLE OVER_

-------------------

"How the hell'you get outta that cell!?" Barret asks harshly, lowering his weapon.

Sparda reattaches the blades of his sword together, then sheathes it. "I woke up, and the door was open slightly..."

"Same here..." Cloud says, leaving the lift with the others. "I woke up and found the door open, and that guard dead."

"He hadn't died too long ago, so whoever it was must still be nearby." Red XIII comments, sitting near the Ex-SOLDIER.

"Why didn't you wake us?" Enquires Aeris to Sparda.

"There was something I wanted to check..." He replies. "I found that girl again."

"Well, where is she?" She asks further.

"She managed to escape..." Sparda says, rubbing the part on his chest where he was kicked, which still felt sore. "And boy, was she quick."

Tifa speaks up, worried. "She... Attacked you?"

"Yeah, after chasing her here. Then we got surrounded. Finally, she leapt out of the window."

As the others look to the broken panel of glass, Red XIII sniffs the air.

"More blood." He says, gaining the party's attention. "...Follow me, everyone!"

The group leave the lab, and follow the red lion up a few floors to the President's office on the 70th Floor. There, after entering steadily, they find the President lying flat on his blood-soaked desk, a long katana impaled in his back. Dead.

"He's dead." Barret says. "The leader of Shinra Inc. is dead..."

"Then that sword must be...!?" Tifa gasps.

Cloud and Sparda both recognise it, and speak in unison. "Sephiroth's."

Tifa's eyes widen. "Sephiroth is alive!!?"

"Looks like it." Cloud says, approaching the dead President. "Only Sephiroth can use this sword."

Sparda grabs the hilt, and pulls it out, then looks at it.

"Masamune. Yup, this is Sephiroth's alright."

"Who cares who did it!?" Barret yells impatiently. "This is the end of Shinra now!!"

Palmer appears from his hiding place behind one of the pillars at either side of the desk; he tries to make a run for it, heading to the stairs as fast as his plump legs will carry him, but Barret grabs him before he does so.

"P-P-P-Please don't kill me!!" He panics.

Cloud walks over. "What happened?"

"Se... Seph... Sephiroth came."

"Did you see him? Did you see Sephiroth?"

"Yeah! I saw him! I saw him with my own eyes!!"

"You really saw him?"

Palmer raises his eyebrows.

"Uh, would I lie to you at a time like this!? I heard his voice, too! Um, he was saying something about not letting us have the Promised Land..."

"Then what?" Tifa contemplates. "Does that mean that the Promised Land really exists and that Sephiroth's here to save it from Shinra?"

"So, he's a good guy, then!?" Barret says hastily, to which Sparda rolls his eyes.

Cloud frowns and shakes his head. "Save the Promised Land? A good guy? No way! It's not that simple! I know him! Sephiroth's mission is different!"

Barret's grip loosens, and Palmer manages to break free. At the sound of a helicopter landing on the heliport outside, the balding fat man rushes for the doors leading outside.

"Rufus!? Shit, I forgot about him!!" Barret yells.

"Who's that?" Asks Tifa curiously.

"Vice President Rufus. The President's son." Growls Barret.

Sparda places the Masamune on the desk in front of Shinra's body, and heads to the heliport.

"He'll be here to take over from his old man, I'd imagine..." He says.

Barret cocks his gun arm. "I'll bet!"

To this, he and the others rush to the doors leading out onto the heliport.

_So, he HAD been there, or at least, one of the clones had..._

_That guard must have gotten in that girl's way, so she took care of him..._

_Such irrelevant matters I'd figure out in more detail later on..._

_For now, I was about to encounter Rufus Shinra, the new President of Shinra Inc..._

-------------------

"So... So Sephiroth was actually here..."

On the pad, Palmer heads into the helicopter, as Rufus - a young blonde man dressed in a white suit - frowns, noticing the group confronting him.

"And, who are you guys?"

"I'm Cloud, former SOLDIER; First Class!" Cloud says.

Barret slaps his chest. "I'm from AVALANCHE!"

Tifa nods her head. "Same here."

"...A flower girl from the slums." Aeris tells him.

"...A research specimen." Red XIII says.

"A guy just passing through..." Adds Sparda.

Rufus raises an eyebrow. "What a crew... Well, I'm Rufus, the President of Shinra Inc."

"Yer only President 'cause yer old man died!" Barret sneers.

"That's right." Rufus shrugs. "I'll let you hear my new appointment speech... Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But..."

He points his finger at himself.

"I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people." He continues, before shrugging again. "There's no reason to waste money on them."

Tifa looks at Rufus with a unsurprised expression. "He likes to make speeches, just like his father."

"Get outta this building with Aeris!" Cloud tells the others.

"What!?" Exclaims Barret.

"I'll explain later, Barret! This is the real crisis for the Planet!"

"The hell's that supposed to mean!?" Barret says with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll tell you later! Just take my word for it now!" Cloud continues, turning to Rufus. "I'll go after I take care of him!"

Barret nods. "Awright, Cloud!"

He then leaves with Tifa, Aeris, Sparda and Red XIII, off the pad and headed to go down to the 69th floor.

"Cloud... I just thought of something." Aeris says once they are on the lower floor.

"I'll wait for Cloud!" Tifa says. "Everyone, get to the elevator!"

"C'mon guys! We'll meet em at the ground floor." Sparda instructs.

The group head to the elevator, leaving Tifa on the current floor. Aeris presses the ground floor button and Sparda keeps a hand on the hilt of his Sword whilst the lift goes down.

Quite a while later, the lift reaches the ground floor and the group head out. Sparda frowns with frustration.

_I was expecting to battle the Heli Gunner and Hundred Gunner bosses while in the elevator... _

_Perhaps that girl had already defeated them when she leaped out of the building? _

_I pondered the possibilities of who she could be and what role she played in all of this..._

Despite the lack of battle in the lift, suddenly, the group come across twenty-or-so guards that appear to have been waiting on the ground floor, all pointing their guns in their direction. Barret aims his gun-arm.

"Awright, time to play!"

-------------------

Meanwhile, on the helipad, Cloud has his Buster Sword armed and ready, whilst Rufus has his shotgun equipped.

The President frowns, wondering. "Why do you want to fight me?"

"You seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth." Cloud replies.

"Hm. Exactly. Mm? Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?"

Cloud shakes his head and charges at Rufus to swing vertically.

"...A lot has happened. Anyway, I can't let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land!"

Rufus narrowly dodges the heavy blade. "I see. I guess this means we won't become friends..."

_BATTLE_

Rufus quickly fires a few rounds. Cloud manages to deflect these before proceeding with his assault on the President. Rufus hence kicks the Ex-SOLDIER away from him, giving him enough time to reload his weapon.

"A SOLDIER, eh?" Rufus smirks. "Interesting..."

He fires a few more rounds.

"I always wanted to battle one..."

Just then, the Helicopter Palmer had gotten into earlier goes airborne and hovers a few feet above the President.

"But that's all for today..."

He laughs a little as he grabs a hold of a rope ladder leading to the passenger bay in the chopper. Cloud growls and sheathes the Buster Sword as the chopper flies away off towards the horizon.

_BATTLE OVER_

Cloud quickly turns, enters the building and heads downstairs to the 69th floor, where he meets up with Tifa.

"Where's Rufus?" She asks.

He sighs. "I couldn't finish him. Looks like this's gonna get complicated... C'mon, let's go."

To this, the duo head to the elevator...

-------------------

Back on the ground floor, the others have taken care of the guards.

Sparda summons an ice spell and freezes the last of them.

"Phew." Aeris mumbles, wiping her forehead. "That wasn't easy."

Red XIII pants, limping beside her. "Indeed. But we're in the clear now."

Barret, with most of his energy still intact, unlike the others, heads to the main door.

"I'll go on ahead." He tells them.

He rushes out of the building only to come running back in after being greeted by a torrent of bullets from several dozen armed soldiers.

"Fuck it! Surrounded, huh!?" He growls. "If I was alone this wouldn't be a thang, but I gotta reputation to protect."

Aeris sighs. "You all get out while you can. It's not you they're after... It's me."

Barret shakes his head.

"Yeah, well that ain't happenin'. You got caught up in this over Marlene. Now, it's my turn to watch out for you!"

He then turns back to the Shinra Soldiers outside.

"Okay, playtime's over for you jackasses!"

"Thank you... Mr. Barret!" She says sweetly.

Sparda meanwhile just looks at her and laughs a little before heading over to the vehicles on display in the entrance area nearby.

Barret raises an eyebrow. "Who you callin' Mr. Barret? That don't sound right!"

"Well then..." Red XIII interrupts. "If you are through talking, may I suggest that we think of a way to get out of here."

"Huh? Oh, oh yeah." Barret says. "You a cold man. Just like someone else 'round here I know."

The red beast narrows his eyes.

"Did you say something?"

"Notta thing. So what're we gonna do?"

At that moment, Tifa rushes downstairs.

"Barret!!" She calls out.

He turns to her. "Where's Cloud?"

She rushes over to the vehicles. "Everyone, over here!"

"Huh? What's up? Where's Cloud!?" Barret tries to interject.

"I'll tell you later! Hurry, hurry!"

The vehicles consist of two motorbikes and a blue truck. Sparda gets on one of the bikes, and notices the keys in the ignition.

"Jackpot!" He says.

_I was thinking that it was a bad idea to ride this thing... _

_When I was back home, the last time I rode a motorbike it ended up a piece of scrap metal and as for me _

_I was lucky to escape with only a broken arm and a few cuts and bruises _

_But that didn't matter right now. We had to escape from the Shinra Guards and finally begin the main leg of the Final Fantasy Seven Journey..._

Sparda turns the ignition and the bike roars to life. Meanwhile, Aeris, Barret, Red XIII and Tifa head over to the truck whilst Cloud comes bounding down the stairs on a roaring motorbike. Tifa gets into the driver's seat of the truck, Aeris into the passenger's seat. Barret and Red XIII get into the space in the back. The three machines rush over to the window overseeing the motorway. The sky outside reaches to the horizon, on which there is a line of pale orange against the darkness, showing that it's almost dawn.

Cloud revs the engine of his bike. "Alright guys!?"

The others look at him.

"This part's gonna be tricky, just hold on tight!"

He pulls a wheelie on the back of the bike and drives it straight through the window, leaps over the gap between the Shinra Building and the road and lands on the solid tarmac of the Midgar motorway.

Red XIII looks over from the back of the truck with his eyes wide open. "We have to do that?"

"Yup!" Barret smirks. "Tifa! HIT THE GAS!"

The barmaid does just that, and just like the bike before it, the truck is soon racing down the motorway.

Sparda breathes deeply. "Okay... This is just crazy..."

He closes his eyes, revs the engine three times before letting go of the break.

"OOOOHHHH... SHHHIIIIIITTTTT!!!"

His motorbike races forward, through the broken glass, through the air and onto the motorway safely also. He opens his eyes.

"WHOO-HOOO! LETS RIIIIDE!!!" He cries out, before shifting a gear and then racing after the group. Within moments, he has caught up.

"HEH HEH! What took you so long punk!?" Barret shouts over.

Sparda shouts back over the rumbling of the vehicles' engines and the air pressure passing them at great speeds, whilst taking one hand off the bike to flip him off. "Didn't see you do anything other then sit on your ass!!"

Cloud pulls back and rides in sync with the truck and the other bike.

"We'll be at the front of Midgar in about three to four minutes! Prepare to stop when the road ends!"

The sound of several Shinra bikes behind them grabs his attention.

"Great... We've got company!"

He draws his Buster Sword.

"I'll keep them busy, you guys keep going!"

Tifa and Sparda nod then slam on their accelerators.

-------------------

Moments pass once the truck and the bike are far ahead, and the sound of the Shinra bikes die down.

"At least they're gone now." Aeris says, relieved. "Cloud must've led them off..."

Suddenly, a torrent of bullets crash down in front of the truck. As the group look to their right, a 'machine' with propellers and several guns connected is seen firing at them.

"Great, the Heli Gunner..." Sparda rolls his eyes, then draws his Guitar Sword and changes it into the Twin Blades. "Barret! Keep firing at it! Tifa! Keep on driving, and don't stop - no matter what!"

He takes both his hands off the handle bars and enters a fighting stance.

_BATTLE_

The Heli Gunner charges over the truck and continues to rain down bullets. Tifa manages to swerve away and avoid most of them. All the while, Barret attempts to bring the mechanical being down with a torrent of his own.

"Stay. Down. Bitch!!!" He roars, before a stray bullet hits him in the arm causing him to grunt in pain.

"Barret!" Aeris cries, looking over into the back.

"I'm awright!" He tells her, getting angry. "It's time to show this asshole what happens to ANYTHING that tries to fuck with me!!"

He holds out his gun-arm, and charges up a massive blast of bright energy.

"EAT THIS, MO-THER FU-CKER!!! BIIIIIGGG SHHOOOOOOOT!!!"

He unleashes a massive blast of energy at the Heli Gunner, blasting a huge chunk of its artillery into pieces.

"OH YEAH!!!" He yells in victory.

The Heli Gunner programmes itself to self-destruct, beeping loudly, and then charges at the truck.

All the while, Sparda charges his Lightning Materia.

"Element of Lightning... IMBUDE MY BLADES!!!"

A massive electric blast envelops the twin swords.

"DOUBLE THUNDER SLASH!!!"

He swings both Swords in a cross shape sending a massive wave of electrical energy at the Heli Gunner, the blast connects and the mechanical nightmare blows up in mid air.

"Alright!" Tifa cheers.

"Thank goodness..." Says Aeris.

"AWRIGHT SPAR! WE SHOWED THAT ASSHOLE!" Yells Barret.

Sparda sighs. "We did, yeah."

He sheathes the blades as the electrical aura around them fades.

_BATTLE OVER_

The group arrive at the end of the highway just above the entrance to Sector Five.

Tifa turns the engine of the truck off. "We made it."

Aeris has leant over the back window of the truck and is already tending to Barret's bullet wound as he consumes a Hi-Potion from her stash.

"Cloud should be here soon." She says.

Speaking of the Devil, Cloud's bike interrupts her sentence.

Tifa shrugs. "He's here already."

Sparda squints his eyes to see Cloud being followed by another massive machine, the 'Motorball'. He unsheathes the Twin Blades again.

"Great..."

"He's being followed..." Red XIII growls.

The youth holds the swords in one hand and revs the engine on his bike, racing towards Cloud, who is fending off attack after attack from the massive tank like machine.

"Hold on, dude!!"

_BATTLE_

Motorball unleashes a jet of flame at Cloud who just manages to avoid it by falling back. Jumping off the bike, the Ex-SOLDIER lands on top of the giant machine and slams his Buster Sword into its sensor, blinding it and exposing its innards. He then proceeds to charge his Lightning Materia.

"Powers within... THUNDARA!!"

A medium sized bolt of lightning descends, and strikes Motorball's open spot and causes the massive tank-like machine to malfunction and begin to detonate, the final and biggest blast sends Cloud flying along with the Buster Sword.

The Ex-SOLDIER almost hits solid ground, but instead lands with luck on the back seat of Sparda's Motorbike.

Sparda sheathes his Twin Blades. "Thought you could use a ride..."

Cloud nods his head. "Hm. Thanks."

_BATTLE OVER_

The duo arrive where the others are waiting, at the edge of the incomplete motorway. As soon as he gets off the stationary bike, Cloud heads over to the end of the road.

Barret gets out of the truck. "Well, what do we do now?"

"Sephiroth is alive. I... I have to settle the score." Cloud sighs.

"And that'll save the Planet?" Barret asks.

The Ex-SOLDIER shrugs. "...Seems like it."

"Awright, I'm going!" Barret nods.

Next, Aeris gets out of the truck.

"I'll go too... I have things that I want to find out."

Cloud speaks to her without looking at her. "About the Ancients?"

"...Many things." She replies.

Sparda places a hand on Aeris's shoulder.

"Well, I'm coming too. Could use the company. And besides, I'm caught up in this anyway, now..."

Tifa walks up to the end of the road to join the others.

"I guess this's good bye, Midgar."

Sparda notices a cable from the edge of the motorway that leads to underneath the top plate.

"We can use this to get back down to the ground." He says.

"Good ol' terra firma!" Barret grins, grabbing the wire and beginning to climb down.

Red XIII frowns. "And how do I climb down?"

Barret pauses, and then climbs back up a little. "Aw, AWRIGHT! Get on my back!"

The lion hound does just that, then the AVALANCHE leader continues to climb down.

Tifa grabs the wire after Barret has gone down.

"Alright my turn."

Once Tifa is a way down, Aeris begins to climb down.

"Now me."

Cloud grabs the wire after her.

"Time to find you, Sephiroth..."

After Cloud, Sparda is the last to climb down.

_Finally I would see the world beyond Midgar, where my journey had begun _

_As I already figured; If my destiny involved the plot of this game then I knew I would one day return _

_Only thing is... It would be without Aeris..._

Sparda sighs as he begins his descent.

-------------------

At the entrance to Midgar, in front of Sector Five, it is now morning.

"Alright, everyone! Let's go." Cloud says.

"I'm heading to my hometown." Red XIII says. "I'll go with you as far as that..."

Cloud nods.

"You know, this is the first time I've ever left Midgar..." Aeris sighs.

Sparda smiles at her, though it looks as if he is shrouding a frown.

"Don't be nervous. It's a first for me, too."

The flower girl just looks at the teen and smiles her sweet smile.

"We need a group leader for our journey. 'Course, only I could be the leader." Barret speaks up.

Tifa smirks, raising an eyebrow. "You think so..."

Aeris grins, as if to mock him. "It would have to be Cloud."

Barret growls.

"Bitch... Awright. Go Northeast to a town called Kalm. If something happens, we'll meet up there. 'Sides, we can't have six people strollin' down the fields. It's too dangerous."

He waves his hand at Cloud in an annoyed manner.

"Split us into 2 parties..."

Cloud nods his head.

"Okay, Barret, Tifa you're with me."

They nod their heads.

"And that means that Aeris and Red, you're with me." Sparda says, receiving nods from the two of them. He then turns to Cloud's group. "Right, then. Until Kalm."

He gives a salute-like wave.

"Later!"

Cloud nods his head as the teen's trio head out to of Midgar onto the fields in the direction of the quaint little village called Kalm.

_...And now, at last, the true adventure would begin..._


	9. Chapter Eight: A Look Into The Past

**Chapter Eight: A Look Into The Past**

Sparda, along with Aeris and Red XIII, head towards Kalm, to their surprise not encountering any monsters across the vast fields that divide the small town from Midgar. Within an hour, they arrive at Kalm.

Aeris looks around the quaint hamlet. "Wow... Everything's so open and clear, unlike Midgar."

"There's a whole world for you to see, and there's a whole lot more than just this." Sparda tells her, walking towards the town centre, but then looking back.

Red XIII shakes his body, then stretches.

"So, what do we do while we wait?" He asks.

Sparda looks towards the nearby tavern over in a collection of small buildings nearby.

"Hmm, well, I might go for a drink." He says, before looking at the flower girl and the lion-hound. "Tell you what, do what you want 'til Cloud and the others arrive. I'll meet up later."

He proceeds to walk into the tavern.

"I'm gonna go check in at the Inn. Coming?" Aeris asks.

Red XIII looks up at her and shrugs. "Sure. Could use the rest."

-------------------

Sparda meanwhile walks into the tavern and leans against the bar. The bartender, whilst cleaning a large glass with a cloth, turns to serve him.

"What'll it be, lad?"

"Got any ciders?" Sparda asks.

The bartended grabs a green glass bottle labelled 'Devil's Storm Cider', and puts it in front of the youth. "This one's out most popular brand, Twenty Gil a bottle."

Sparda hands over the money, then picks up the cider and takes a swig.

"Hmm, now that's good..."

"That's what every cider drinker says." The bartender laughs, before heading over to another customer.

"Hmm... Mm?"

Sparda takes another swig and looks up at the TV to see a report on the death of President Shinra, and that Rufus would be taking over the company.

"Heh, bet they won't mention Sephiroth..." He says, before looking out of the window and noticing Cloud, Barret and Tifa heading into the Inn. "Oh, they're here."

He downs the whole content of the bottle, places it on the bar and heads out of the tavern.

The youth heads over to the Inn and enters; the woman behind the desk motions to the stairs. Sparda nods and heads up them.

"Yo! You're late! Where you been!?" Barret asks as he enters the dormitory room upstairs.

"Hello darling..." Sparda jokes, rolling his eyes. Aeris and Tifa silently giggle at this. "I went for a drink, if you must know."

He leans his Guitar Sword by the wall, then sits down on one of the beds.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" Asks Tifa with a raised eyebrow.

"Just so you know, love, I'm the same age as you." He says, lying back on the bed.

"So, I guess everyone's here now." Aeris says, changing the subject.

"So, let's hear your story..." Barret says to Cloud. "...You know, the one about Sephiroth and this crisis facing the planet. Let's hear it all."

Cloud breathes deep. "I used to want to be like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER. After working with Sephiroth on several missions, we became friends."

"You call that a friend?" Barret comments sceptically.

"Yeah, well... He's older than me, and he hardly ever talked about himself."

Tifa closes her eyes and silently sighs, but continues to listen after noticing Sparda looking at her.

"So, I guess you'd call him a war buddy." Continues Cloud. "We trusted each other. Until one day..."

Curious, Aeris presses, "...One day?"

"After the war, it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any resistance against the Shinra." Cloud closes his eyes and reminisces. "...That was five years ago. I was sixteen..."

-------------------

_CLOUD'S MEMORY: SOLDIER TRUCK BOUND FOR NIBELHEIM..._

A sixteen-year-old Cloud looks out of the truck's rear window whilst two Shinra soldiers and Sephiroth are sat down in silence. The rain from outside patters hard and aloud on the truck's roof.

"It's sure raining hard." Cloud says with a slight frown. He looks to the Shinra soldier closest to him. "Hey, how are you doing?"

The soldier sighs in response. "I'm alright."

"I wouldn't know, I've never had motion sickness." Cloud tells him, before speaking to the other soldier. "Everything okay?"

Sephiroth looks over at his young partner. "Hey. Settle down."

"They gave me some new Materia." Cloud replies, whilst holding up and showing off a colourful sphere of Mako. "I can't wait to use it."

"...Just like a kid." Sephiroth rolls his eyes.

"You going to brief us about this mission?" Asks Cloud.

"...This isn't a typical mission."

"Good!"

Sephiroth raises an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

"I joined SOLDIER so I could be like you. But by the time I made First Class, the war was already over. My big hopes of becoming a hero like you ended with the war." Cloud explains, before shaking his head in disappointment. "That's why I always sign up whenever there's a big mission. Kind of a way to prove myself. Say, how do _you _feel, MISTER Sephiroth?"

With an amused frown, Sephiroth replies, "I thought you wanted a briefing? Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. There have been reports of it malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures. Then, we'll locate the problem and neutralise it."

"Brutal creatures... Where?" Cloud enquires.

"The Mako Reactor at Nibelheim."

"...Nibelheim... That's where I'm from..."

Sephiroth folds his arms. "Hmm... Hometown..."

Suddenly, the truck shakes and the engine stalls.

"S...Sir...! Something strange just crashed into our truck!" The driver panics.

Sephiroth stands up and unsheathes his Masamune. "That would be our Monster..."

_BATTLE_

Both Cloud and Sephiroth jump off the truck in time to face their monster. A huge Green Dragon roars and breathes a jet of flame straight at the young Cloud, whom just manages to avoid being burnt. Sephiroth, with unnatural ease, dodges the flame and delivers a swift slash, causing the dragon to roar in pain. The silver-haired SOLDIER then gracefully leaps up and stabs the Masamune through the giant creature's jaws killing it instantly.

"You hurt?" Sephiroth asks coldly as he pulls the blade out of the dragon's maw with little effort.

Cloud is dazed and impressed, and manages to stutter. "I-I'm fine..."

_BATTLE OVER_

-------------------

_THE PRESENT..._

"Sephiroth's strength is unreal. He is far stronger in reality than in any story you might have heard about him." Cloud tells the group.

"So... Where do you come in?" Aeris asks.

"Me? I was mesmerised by the way Sephiroth fought." He says, before taking a deep breath. "...And then, we reached Nibelheim."

-------------------

_CLOUD'S MEMORY: OUTSIDE OF NIBELHEIM..._

Sephiroth walks up to the entrance of the town, then turns to face Cloud, whom is not far behind with the Shinra soldiers.

"How does it feel? It's your first time back to your hometown in a long time, right?" Sephiroth asks. "So, how does it feel?"

He shrugs.

"I wouldn't know, because I don't have a hometown..."

"Umm... How 'bout your parents?" Cloud asks curiously.

Sephiroth looks down at the paved ground below his feet. "My mother is Jenova. She died right after she gave birth to me. My father..."

His eyes begin to sharpen with a hint of anger.

"...What does it matter?" He shakes it off. "Alright, let's go."

-------------------

_THE PRESENT..._

"Yo! Wait a minute!!" Barret interrupts loudly. "Isn't that, um...? The name of Sephiroth's mother... I remember Jenova. That's that damn headless spook livin' in the Shinra building!"

Cloud nods his head. "That's right."

"Barret, would you please let us hear what Cloud has to say?" Tifa says, annoyed. "You can ask questions later."

"Tifa, I was only..." He begins but goes ignored.

"Okay, Cloud. Continue." Says Tifa.

"It's a reunion of childhood pals!" Aeris says.

"I was really surprised with Tifa." Cloud continues.

-------------------

_CLOUD'S PAST: TOWN CENTRE..._

_'...The town was quiet. Everybody must be staying in their houses, afraid to come out because of the monsters. No, maybe they're afraid of us...'_

Sephiroth is in front of the Inn. He speaks to Cloud and the two soldiers. "We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early. All we need is one lookout, so you others, get some rest."

To this, he heads into the Inn. Cloud shortly follows, and finds him on the second floor, staring out of the window.

"What are you looking at?" He asks.

"This scenery... I feel like I know this place." Sephiroth replies, before shrugging it off. "We have an early start tomorrow. You should get some sleep soon."

Cloud agrees. "Yeah, let's get some sleep."

"I've hired a guide to the Mako reactor. I've heard she's young. I hope we can rely on her..."

_THE NEXT MORNING, OUTSIDE THE ROUTE TO MOUNT NIBEL..._

"Once the guide gets here, we're heading out." Sephiroth says to Cloud.

Tifa's father walks over. "Listen to me, Sephiroth. In case something happens..."

Sephiroth nods his head in assurance.

"Trust me."

"I'll be alright, Dad!" Tifa says carelessly as she rushes over. "I have two men from SOLDIER with me."

She turns to Sephiroth.

"I'm Tifa. Nice to meet you."

"Tifa! You're the guide!?" Cloud asks in surprise.

She nods. "That's right. I just happen to be the number one guide in this town."

Cloud frowns. "It's too dangerous! I can't involve you in something like this!"

Sephiroth shrugs his head and walks towards the mountains. "Then there's no problem if you protect her... Let's go."

Just then, a man with a camera runs over.

"Umm, Mr. Sephiroth! Please let me take one picture for a memento!" He says, before turning to Tifa and motioning to Cloud. "Tifa, can you ask him for me, too?"

Sephiroth walks over with his Masamune sheathed in one hand. Cloud walks beside him and folds his arms, and finally Tifa stands in front of the two of them.

'Cheeeeeeese!'

With a large flash, the photo is taken.

"Great, thank you! I'll give each of you a copy, once I get it developed!"

The man heads back into town, and the group of Sephiroth, Cloud and the two Shinra soldiers lead by Tifa head into the mountains.

"It gets harder from here!" Tifa says, whilst crossing a rope bridge over a considerable drop. "Follow me!"

The group follow, but as soon as they get halfway, the ropes begin to give way.

"Uh... The bridge!!"

The ropes snap, and the group fall to the bottom of the gorge.

"Hmph, that was fun..." Sephiroth says, getting up, seeming to be unaffected by the drop. He heads over to Cloud, Tifa, and one of the Shinra soldiers as they come to, checking for injuries. "Everyone seems to be alright. Can we get back to where we were?"

Tifa looks around and thinks. "These caves are intertwined, just like an ant farm... Oh, and Sephiroth, there seems to be one person missing..."

He sighs. "It may sound cold, but we've got no time to search for him. We can't go back now, so we must go on. We'll travel together from here."

The group of four head into a nearby cave. Along the way they come across an opening, illuminated by a bright pale green light.

"What's this?" Cloud enquires.

"A mysteriously coloured cave..." Tifa says, whilst looking around.

"It must be the Mako energy. This fountain is especially abundant in it. That's why the Mako reactor was built here."

The group enter the brightest part of the opening. Cloud looks at a raised rock there, which has a liquid substance gushing out of it.

"And what's this?"

"A Mako fountain. It's a miracle of nature." Sephiroth tells him.

Awe inspired, Tifa looks down at it. "It's so beautiful... If the Mako Reactor continues to suck up the energy, this fountain will dry up too..."

"Materia. When you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. It's very rare to be able to see materia in it's natural state." Sephiroth explains.

"By the way..." Cloud begins, wondering. "Why is it that when you use materia you can also use magic, too?"

Sephiroth raises an eyebrow. "You're in SOLDIER and didn't even know that? The knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic... Or so they say."

"Magic... A mysterious power..." Cloud ponders.

Sephiroth begins to laugh, and Cloud frowns.

"Did I say something funny?"

"A man once told me 'never to use an unscientific term such as 'mysterious power'! It shouldn't even be called 'magic'!'" Sephiroth replies with a bemused look on his face. "I still remember how angry he was."

"Who was that?" Asks Cloud curiously.

Sephiroth raises a hand. "Hojo, of Shinra, Inc. An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist. He was a walking mass of complexes."

Tifa is lost in her thoughts. "A Mako fountain... So this is where the knowledge of the Ancients is."

The group eventually leave the cave and arrive at the reactor. Tifa breathes a sigh of relief.

"We finally made it. We sure took the long way, though."

"Tifa, you wait here." Cloud instructs.

"I'm going inside too!" She says, insistent. "I wanna see!"

"Only authorised people are allowed in. This place is full of Shinra's industrial secrets." Sephiroth says.

"But...!"

"Take care of the lady." Sephiroth orders the Shinra soldier, whom nods in response. As soon as Cloud and Sephiroth head up the steps to the reactor entrance, he stands in front of the steps and blocks Tifa's way.

"Mm, man!" She groans, annoyed. "Better take _real _good care of me, then!"

_IN THE REACTOR..._

Cloud heads into the main room of the reactor. He notices a door at the top of a flight of stairs; above it is a huge sign saying 'JENOVA'.

"This is... Jenova, right? The lock won't open..."

Sephiroth ignores the door and notices a broken valve. "This is the reason for the malfunction. This part is broken. Cloud, close the valve."

Cloud nods and closes the valve off.

"Why did it break?" Sephiroth frowns, and notices several 'pods' lined in rows of two. He looks through one of the pod windows and his eyes open wide in surprise. "Now I see. Hojo. But, even doing this will never put you on the same level as Professor Gast."

He turns to Cloud.

"This is a system that condenses and freezes Mako energy. That is, when it's working correctly. Now, what does Mako energy become when it's further condensed?"

Cloud thinks it over. "Uh, umm... Oh yeah! It becomes materia."

"Right. Normally." Sephiroth nods. "But Hojo put something else in there... Take a look."

He motions to the window. Cloud looks inside the pod, then steps back in shock.

"Wh... What is this!?"

"Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You're different from the others, but still human." Sephiroth tells him. "But, what are they? They've been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you."

"...Is this some kind of monster?" Cloud ponders.

Sephiroth closes his eyes and nods. "Exactly. And it's Hojo of Shinra that produces these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monsters really are."

Cloud is puzzled. "Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean, you're different?"

He notices Sephiroth beginning to act erratic.

"H-Hey, Sephiroth!"

"N... No... Was I...? ...!!"

Sephiroth, horrified, draws his Masamune and starts hacking at the pods.

"...Was I created this way too!? Am I the same as all these monsters!?"

"...Sephiroth." Cloud says quietly.

He rushes over to the other pods and begins hacking again. "You saw it! All of them... Were humans..."

"Humans!? No way!" Cloud responds, alarmed.

Sephiroth stops hacking and looks down. "...I've always felt since I was small... That I was different from the others. Special, in some way. But... Not like this..."

He shakes his head then a noise causes him to look back. One of the pods begins to open violently, and the creature inside screams whilst it forces its way out...

-------------------

_THE PRESENT..._

"Damn Shinra!" Barret growls. "The more I hear, the more I hate 'em!"

"...Who would have ever thought the Mako Reactor held a secret like that..." Tifa says.

Sparda sighs. "With the Shinra pulling the strings, it wouldn't surprise me."

Red XIII nods.

"That would seem to explain the increase in the number of monsters recently. I think we should listen carefully to Cloud. Don't you think so, Barret?" He says.

"Yeah, keep talking!" Barret says.

Aeris looks over at Tifa. "Tifa... You were waiting outside then?"

Tifa pauses, then nods. "Yes."

"We returned to Nibelheim. Sephiroth confined himself at the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me." Cloud begins again.

"Then, all of a sudden, he just disappeared, right?" Tifa says.

Cloud nods. "We found him inside the biggest building in Nibelheim."

"The villagers used to call it the Shinra mansion." Tifa adds.

"Long ago, people from Shinra used to live in that mansion..."

-------------------

_CLOUD'S MEMORY: SHINRA MANSION BASEMENT LIBRARY..._

Cloud enters the basement, and finds Sephiroth pacing back and forth, reading hand written books as if entranced.

"...An organism that was apparently dead was found in a 2000-year-old geological stratum." Sephiroth mutters, whilst reading. "Professor Gast named that organism 'Jenova'... X Year, X Month, X Day... Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient... X Year, X Month, X Day... Jenova Project approved... The use of Mako Reactor 1 approved for use..."

He frowns.

"My mother's name is Jenova... Jenova Project... Is this just a coincidence?"

He looks up in despair.

"...Professor Gast, why didn't you tell me anything...? Why did you die...?"

Cloud turns and walks out of the basement, leaving Sephiroth to continue reading.

A few days later, Cloud returns to the basement library, and finds Sephiroth sat in an armchair.

"Ha, ha, ha..." Sephiroth laughs. "Who is it!? Hmph..."

His eyes sharpen with a sense of hatred.

"Traitor..."

"Traitor?" Cloud repeats, confused.

"You ignorant traitor. I'll tell you." Sephiroth says, darkly. "The Ancients were an itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move one... At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness. But, those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to an easier life."

He slams a fist on the desk.

"They took that which the Cetra and the Planet had made without giving back one whit in return!" He points to Cloud. "Those are your ancestors."

"Sephiroth..."

"Long ago, disaster struck this planet. Your ancestors escaped... They survived because they hid. The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase."

He motions to all the scattered books with his hands.

"Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports."

"What does that have to do with you?" Questions Cloud, uncertain.

"Don't you get it?" Sephiroth frowns with annoyance. "An Ancient named Jenova was found in the Geological stratum of 2000 years ago. The Jenova Project. The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients... No, the Cetra! I am the one that was produced..."

Unbelieving, Cloud stammers, "Pr... Produced!?"

"Yes." Sephiroth smirks. "Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me."

Cloud's eyes are open wide with both worry and curiosity. "How... How did he…?"

Sephiroth gets up and walks past him.

"Se... Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth pushes him aside.

"Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother."

Sephiroth heads out of the basement and out of the mansion. Cloud soon follows him outside, to find the town is burning and several have already been killed.

Zangan looks over at Cloud.

"Hey it's you! You're still sane, right? Then come over here and help me! I'll check this house. You check that one over there!"

Cloud checks the house, and then comes back outside immediately shaking his head.

"Terrible... Sephiroth... This is too terrible..." He whispers with his eyes closed whilst biting his lip.

Suddenly, Cloud looks over to the entrance to the mountains and sees Sephiroth slaughter two people, before looking up with a slight grin, then a dark glare, before walking into the fire. Cloud follows him to the Mako Reactor, to find Tifa's father's lying dead with Sephiroth's Masamune beside him.

"Papa..." Tifa says, her hands on her father's body and her eyes full of tears. "Sephiroth!? Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!? Sephiroth... SOLDIER... Mako Reactors... Shinra... Everything! I hate them all!"

She grabs Sephiroth's sword and chases after the silver-haired SOLDIER. Cloud quickly follows after her.

"Mother, I'm here to see you." Sephiroth says, at the door atop of the stairs. "Please, open this door."

"How could you do that to Papa and all the townspeople!?" Tifa screams, Masamune in hand.

Tifa attempts to attack Sephiroth, but Sephiroth takes the Masamune from her and slashes her. Tifa falls down the stairs to Cloud's level. Sephiroth then turns, and enters the room with Jenova inside. Cloud checks on Tifa, who is seriously wounded.

"You promised... You promised that you'd come... When I was in trouble..." She mumbles.

Cloud carries Tifa and places her in the closest corner, then grabs his Buster Sword and rushes into the room with Jenova.

Sephiroth has his hands raised towards a metallic statue of an angel-like female.

"Mother, let's take this planet back together. I've thought of a great idea. Let's go to the Promised Land."

"Sephiroth... My family! My hometown!" Cloud shouts with Buster Sword in hand. "How could you do this to them!?"

"Ha, ha, ha... They've come again, Mother." Sephiroth laughs, his eyes narrowed. "With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Mother was destined to become the ruler of the Planet."

**"But they... Those worthless creatures are stealing the Planet from Mother! But now I'm here with you, so don't worry..."**

The silver-haired SOLDIER grabs a hold of the statue, and rips it away from the wall revealing a Chryo chamber with a blue skinned female with tentacles and a strange device on her head. The plaque on the device reads JENOVA.

"What about MY sadness!? My family, friends... The sadness of having my hometown taken away from me!? It's the same as your sadness!" Cloud roars, his eyes ablaze.

Sephiroth points the Masamune at Cloud. "Ha, ha, ha... My sadness? What do I have to be sad about? I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet. I have orders to take this planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about!?"

Cloud takes a deep breath and shakes his head.

"Sephiroth... I trusted you... No! You're not the Sephiroth I used to know!"

Cloud brandishes his sword...

-------------------

_THE PRESENT..._

Cloud opens his eyes. "...And that's the end of my story."

"Wait a damn minute!" Barret frowns. "Ain't there more?"

"I don't remember." Cloud shrugs.

"What happened to Sephiroth?" Aeris asks.

"In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him." Cloud tells her.

"Official records state Sephiroth is dead. I read it in the newspaper." Tifa says.

"Shinra, Inc. owns the paper, so you can't rely on that information." Aeris tells her.

"...I want to know the truth. I wanted to know what happened then." Cloud announces. "I challenged Sephiroth and lived. Why didn't he kill me?"

"...I'm alive, too." Adds Tifa.

"Seems like a lot of this doesn't make sense." Aeris says with a finger on her chin. "What about Jenova? It was in the Shinra building, right?"

Cloud motions a yes. "Shinra shipped it from Nibelheim to Midgar."

"Did someone else carry it out after that? It was missing from the Shinra building." Aeris continues.

"...Sephiroth?" Tifa suggests.

Barret slams his human fist on a nearby drawer.

"Damn! Don't none of this make sense! I'm going, going, going, GONE! And I'm leaving the thinkin' to YOU!" He declares. "Yo, Cloud! Let's get a move on!"

He heads to the stairs. Cloud nods.

"Right."

"Yo, c'mon, let's go!" Barret rushes downstairs with impatience.

"Oh, brother..." Cloud and Sparda chorus.

"Cloud...?" Tifa speaks up. "How bad was I when Sephiroth cut me?"

"I thought you were a goner..." Cloud replies quickly. "...I was really sad."

Tifa pauses, then heads downstairs too.

"I... The Ancients... Cetra... Jenova, Sephiroth and myself..." Aeris says.

Sparda looks at her as she quietly heads downstairs. Tifa peeks her head up from the railing.

"Let's go. we're waiting." She says, before heading back down.

Red XIII stretches whilst talking to Sparda. "What a fascinating story..."

Sparda gets up and sheathes the Guitar Sword as Red XIII heads downstairs.

"I'll say..."

_It's strange, I'd seen that story several times_

_But listening to Cloud ACTUALLY telling it brought out more of a brighter picture then the game ever did._

_I was beginning to feel as if there was more to my purpose of being here_

_But again I'd think of that when it truly mattered: I had to find a way out of this place first; wherever this place was..._

"Yo Spar! Take this!" Barret throws Sparda over a PHS when he comes downstairs. "That'll keep us in contact all the time!"

Sparda pockets it and looks at Barret.

"Well really? I thought it was to crack open walnuts with..."

Barret stares. "Less of tha' kid..."

He heads out with Tifa behind him, who looks over to Sparda, Red XIII and Aeris, and nods before leaving.

Cloud hands Sparda a piece of green materia before heading to the entrance. "We'll be heading through the Mythril Caverns past the swamp. We'll meet there."

To this, Cloud leaves. Sparda looks at the materia.

"Heh, what do ya know, I was gonna buy an Earth materia, too."

He turns to Aeris, who is checking her equipment, and Red XIII.

"Well guys, shall we?"

-------------------


	10. Chapter Nine: Paths Converge

**Chapter Nine: Paths Converge**

The trio, consisting of Sparda, Aeris and Red XIII, exit from Kalm after buying some Mythril equipment. They have walked past the mountains into a massive, open plain. With a sudden jolt and a burst of speed, Red XIII quickly darts ahead, leaving the other two behind, puzzled.

"So where are we heading next? After him?" Aeris asks with a raised eyebrow but a curious smile.

Sparda looks towards the Midgar Swamp where Red XIII has headed.

"Well, first we need to get past that swamp, and go through the Mythril Mines." He tells her, before switching his vision towards a ranch just several yards ahead. "We'll need Choco--"

The youth is cut off by a roar from Red XIII, who is confronted with a thirty foot cobra-like monster with a twin tail, the Midgar Zolom.

"Oh, great..." He draws the Guitar Sword. "Aeris, stay back!"

He races across the swamp waters to the Lion-hound's side and prepares to battle...

_BATTLE_

The Zolom hisses loudly as it rears its head and prepares to strike Red XIII, whom just lunges to his right as the giant serpent misses by inches. Sparda arrives fully armed as the Zolom turns towards Red XIII for another strike.

"Hiyahh!" He shouts, jumping onto the Zolom's tail and stabbing his blade into the serpent's scaly flesh.

The Zolom roars as the sword imbeds itself even deeper and swings its tail from side to side until the youth is thrown off, the blade still imbedded.

Sparda begins to get up after his fall, before empowering the Earth Materia locked into his Gauntlet. "Okay... Element of Earth... Grant me your strength!"

The Gauntlet glows green.

"QUAKE FIST!!" Sparda cries, racing at the Zolom which has resumed its pursuit of Red XIII, and slams his fist into it's broken skin with earth-shattering power.

The Zolom turns once again furiously and swings its tail, this time catching the Lion-hound, knocking him into the swamp and also sending the Guitar Sword to land right at the youth's feet. It focuses its attention on Sparda, and rears its head - this time charging a crimson coloured energy in its mouth…

Aeris, a few yards back from the edge of the swamp, powers up the same energy in her hands as her Mythril Rod hovers horizontally in front of her.

"BETA!!"

She unleashes a huge crimson blast of flame which connects with the serpent's open maw, stunning and burning it badly. She then rushes across the marsh to the youth's side.

"God bless that Enemy Skill Materia." Sparda laughs, before snapping. "WATCH OUT!!"

He pushes Aeris out of the way just in time as the Zolom lunges and sinks its fangs into Sparda's forearm, causing him to yell out in pain.

Aeris looks back, recuperating. "SPARDA!"

Just then, Cloud arrives with Barret and Tifa.

"BLADE..." He swings his Buster Sword from a distance. "...BEAM!!"

He unleashes a multi-coloured shockwave right at the Zolom's neck, causing it to release Sparda from its jaw, whom then falls to his knees, and shift its attention to its attacker.

Sparda clutches his deep wound that bleeds profusely.

"Powers of Healing... CURE!"

The hand clutching his injury glows pale green and then the heavy bleeding stops, but leaving the wound still open. He grabs the Guitar Sword with his uninjured hand.

"...BLADE..." He prepares to lunge, but falls due to little energy. "D-Damn it..."

Tifa rushes at the Zolom as it prepares to swallow the youth whole and steps on its jaw. "SOMER... SAULT!!"

She delivers a heavy kick, pushing herself off, injuring the Zolom before landing gracefully on her feet following a somersault.

The Zolom roars as it observes its attackers, then turns to slither away into the marshes, ignoring Red XIII as he plods back to the others, growling at it.

_BATTLE OVER_

Sparda breaths in deeply whilst getting up, holding his arm. He picks up and sheathes the Guitar Sword. "That was a close one..."

"You alright?" Cloud asks as the group gather together.

Red XIII sighs as he trots over. "It's my fault, I sensed someone was in danger."

He notions to the unconscious young woman on his back - the same light teal-haired girl from the Shinra Building. She is now wearing a loose white shirt over her previous all-black outfit, with white socks and black shoes on her feet, and a pair of thick orange gloves. Her Dual Rings are tied onto an orange belt around her waist.

Sparda recognises her almost instantly. "It's her! The girl that escaped back in the Shinra Building!"

Aeris looks at the girl still out cold and draped on the Lion-hound's back.

"She must've been attacked by that giant snake." She comments quietly. "Poor thing..."

Cloud lifts the woman off Red XIII's back and into his arms; she stirs a little but still doesn't wake up. "We'd best take her to that ranch to rest up."

"We'll need to go there anyways if we wanna get past the Zolom. They have Chocobos there." Sparda says.

"Awright!" Barret announces. "Let's move!"

The whole group heads to the Chocobo Farm.

_'I'd been careless to receive that bite which drained me so easily, but that wasn't the most important of my concerns_

_I was more interested in who **she **was_

_This was the second time we had met while she was unconscious._

_I was beginning to think that she might've been part of the reason that I was here in the first place..._

_Whoever she was, friend or foe, I chose to keep her nearby...'_

----------

In the dormitory, at the Chocobo Ranch, the teal-haired young woman lays on one of the beds peacefully in sleep; by the wall in that same room Sparda waits for her to wake up, the bite he received dressed in a heavy duty bandage.

She rouses. "...Mmm... Uh... Huh?"

She opens her dark blue eyes and looks around the small dormitory.

"Can't leave you alone for five minutes..." Sparda says, causing the woman to jolt upright. "Surprised, eh? Been dreaming about me--"

The look on her face tells the youth that she's less than amused.

"I'm just kidding, lovie. You alright?"

The girl shakes her head in befuddlement. Her voice speaks in a much calmer, quieter tone than in the Shinra Building. "How... How did I get here?"

"You got thrashed by the Midgar Zolom, and so me and the others saved you." Sparda tells her, raising his bandaged arm. "Thank Red for finding you before it was too late."

"Zolom?" She presses, puzzled.

"That giant snake in the marsh." He heads towards her and sits down on the bed. "I take it you're not from around here."

"...Giant snake? Where... Are we now?"

"The Chocobo Ranch. Just a few miles from Midgar."

She sighs.

"...It happened again..."

She shakes her head, noticing Sparda frowning, misunderstanding her.

"It's been a long time since I last left Midgar..." She tells him.

"I see..." He says, before remembering. "Oh, yeah, now you're awake - what's your name?"

The girl closes her eyes. "My name...?"

A few moments later, she manages to recall it.

"Libra... I'm Libra."

Sparda smiles a little. "Just like my Star sign... Nice name..."

He motions to himself.

"Name's Sparda." He states, then looking out the window behind Libra, noticing the Flower Girl petting one of the Chocobos with a gentle laugh; Libra also looks to her. "That's Aeris."

He then notices the ex-SOLDIER, Lion-hound and AVALANCHE leader talking nearby.

"The big guy's Barret, the blonde - Cloud, and the Lion-hound's Red XIII." He continues.

"...Uh... _Huh_..." Libra responds slowly with a gentle nod, as she observes Barret attempting to pet a Chocobo like Aeris, but ending up being pecked in the head several consecutive times.

_'She seemed like she was completely lost in where she was, even though she tried to hide it_

_There was a possibility that she also came from the real world_

_Although with her attitude and, well, unique appearance, that seemed unlikely_

_Yet life IS full of suspense and surprise_

_In time I sensed I would have my answers, until then I would try and keep her nearby...'_

She looks back at Sparda and then shakes her head slightly, remaining silent.

The youth snaps out of his daydream.

"Sorry, that happens sometimes." He laughs, then notices her sighing. "Is something the matter?"

She shakes her head again. "No, it's nothing..."

Sparda is unsure, but he goes along with it.

"Okay then, if you're sure..." He murmurs, before remembering. "Hey, so, tell me something. What was going so wrong in Midgar that you had to attack me then jump from near the top of the Shinra Building?"

Libra is surprised. "I... Did?"

"You really don't remember anything, do you?" He says caringly, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Well, don't worry. Tell you what, why don't you tag along with me until you get your memory back, eh?"

She sighs and closes her eyes again, almost dejectedly.

"C'mon, what happened in the past is in the past. Let's let bygones be bygones." Sparda continues. "What do ya say? Coming with?"

Libra nods, and looks at the youth. "A-Alright... Where are you headed?"

"We're after a guy called Sephiroth." Sparda says, then pausing for a few seconds to consider. "...And trying to save the Planet, I suppose? Personally, I'm just tagging along with the others at the moment."

"Oh... I see..." She says, getting off the bed. "I think I must've headed out across the marshes without a Chocobo then, huh?"

"Yup. Don't try beating that critter 'til you're a little stronger."

As she gets up, he motions to her.

"How you feeling? If you need to rest up, we aren't leaving until the morning, so go for it." He explains, smiling.

She nods. "Mm, alright."

Just then, Tifa walks in, as Sparda gets up and leans against the wall again.

"Oh, you're awake?" She says. "Tifa. Good to meet you."

Libra nods as the brunette offers her hand, which she takes and shakes. "Libra."

"She's coming with us." Sparda tells her, giving a shrug. "The more the merrier, right? I had a word with that Billy guy. We'll take six Chocobos to cross the marsh. But we'd best leave it 'til morning, when that Zolom's usually asleep."

Tifa frowns. "Six? There's seven of us."

"How do you think Red's gonna be able to ride a Chocobo? Get Barret to carry him."

His comment earns a quiet laugh from Tifa.

"I'll let everyone know she's coming." She says, proceeding to head out, before looking back at Libra. "Welcome aboard."

She chuckles again at the thought of Barret carrying Red XIII on the Chocobo, before leaving the dormitory. Sparda then also goes to leave.

"I'll come check on you in a bit. You need anything? Something to eat or drink?" He asks.

"No, I'm fine, thanks." She tells him.

"Okie dokie." Sparda says finally, then leaving the room as Libra sits back on the bed.

The youth walks out of the ranch, into the cool, open outdoor space of the fields beyond Midgar, to watch the twilight sky turn to night. The Chocobos in their pen head towards their nests to end their day.

_'And so, I had earned more insight into the circumstances I was in, in a way_

_And with an ally for the future...'_

----------

The next morning, the entire party gather in the Chocobo pen.

Barret is on one of the Chocobos, with Red XIII clambering on his back.

"Why do I have to fuckin' put up with all this!?" He yells.

Sparda gets on his chocobo, as he notices Libra on hers, talking to Tifa; then Aeris petting hers as it gets up with her mounted. "Well it was either you or him."

He points to Cloud on his Chocobo, already moving onto the fields ahead.

The AVALANCHE leader mutters something before coaxing the chocobo to follow the ex-SOLDIER.

"Watch the claws! CLAWS!!" He yells once at a fair distance from the ranch.

Sparda laughs as Aeris comes over to him on her Chocobo.

"My, isn't somebody in a _foul _mood?" She jokes, earning a laugh from the Flower girl. "Okay, you're with me, Aeris."

He motions towards Libra.

"Lib! You're with us!" He calls.

Libra looks over and nods as Tifa ushers her Chocobo to catch up with Cloud, Red XIII, and a rather scratched up Barret.

"Shall we?" Aeris grins, before she clicks her tongue so her Chocobo races onwards, with Libra and Sparda not far behind.

_'She never rode a Chocobo in her life and already she acted like she'd done it for years!_

_Aeris was making a good job of impressing me at everything she did...'_

The group pass the marsh without even a trace of the Zolom. At the Mythril Cave entrance, the trio dismount the Chocobos which instinctively race back to the ranch.

Aeris looks over to the right of the entrance to the cave. "I think I know what happened to that snake..."

The youth and the female teen look over to find the Midgar Zolom impales on a tree, seeming to have been killed recently.

_'Sephiroth...' _Sparda tells himself. "At least we don't have to worry 'bout the Zolom anymore..."

Libra turns to face the cave. "...Maybe not the Zolom, but perhaps we should worry about who did this..."

"Yeah, point taken..." He says. "C'mon, let's just press on and worry 'bout that later."

The trio enter the cave unaware that a lurking creature was spying...

...After about five minutes of navigating the mines, Sparda, Libra and Aeris come towards the other exit, when the creature reveals itself - a flying golden dragon: an Ark Dragon.

_BATTLE_

Sparda instantly unsheathes his Guitar Sword upon seeing the creature. "Take it you don't need any pointers when it comes to fighting..."

"Who? Me?" Libra enquires, unhooking her Dual Rings then twirling them with her wrists, whilst Aeris stands behind him.

Sparda smirks. "No, the other Libra."

The Ark Dragon charges, and prepares a fire breath at the party. Libra instinctively dashes forwards, the materia in her left ring glowing all the while. She swings said ring in front of her and unleashes a torrent of frozen wind at the dragon, knocking it out of the air.

"Element of Ice, imbued my blade..." Sparda begins. "BLIZZARD SLASH!"

The Guitar sword glistens with ice as the youth rushes at the Ark Dragon, and hacks off one of its now frozen wings. The dragon roars, and unleashes its breath at Aeris, whom narrowly misses being hit by the blast, thanks to the youth barricading the flame with the ice-powered Guitar Sword.

"You okay?" Sparda asks her.

Aeris looks at Sparda gratefully. "Yeah."

Libra gives her weapons another quick twirl, then throws one at the dragon, slashing its neck, then catches the ring in her luckily thick-gloved hand as it returns to her. The dragon roars its last roar, as it falls down dead, bleeding heavily from the wound.

"Aww, I wanted the finishing blow..." Sparda laughs whilst sheathing his Guitar Sword.

Libra laughs slightly too, hooking the Dual Rings back onto her belt. "Too bad."

"Are you two gonna be like this all the time?" Aeris asks playfully.

"Pretty much." Sparda confirms.

----------

The group finally reaches the room before the exit, and find the Turks confronting Cloud's party.

"Who are you?" Tifa enquires to Rude.

Rude replies with his arms folded. "Do you know who I am?"

"From the Turks, right?" Cloud says.

"Well, if you know, then this won't take long. It's difficult to explain what the Turks do..." Rude begins.

"Kidnapping, right?" Interjects Cloud.

"To put it negatively..." Rude continues, with a raised eyebrow behind his trademark sunglasses. "...You could say that. But that's not all there is to it, anymore."

He sighs, as a female Turk calls over.

"Sir! It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!"

He shrugs, and motions to a young, bleach blonde woman. "...Then, Elena, explain."

"I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena. Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're short of people." She says, frowning. "Although, because of that, I got promoted to the Turks..."

Elena shakes her head.

"In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed. And to try and stop you every step of the way. Wait a minute, it's the other way around... _You're _the ones that are getting in _our _way."

Tseng shakes his head, and sighs as he enters the cave through the exit. "…Elena. You talk too much."

Elena closes her eyes and sighs. "Sorry... Tseng."

"No need to tell them about our orders. Now go. Don't forget to file your report."

"Oh! Right! Very well, Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbour!"

Tseng rolls his eyes. "...Elena. You don't seem to understand."

Elena covers her mouth. "Oh! I'm, I'm sorry..."

"...Go." Tseng shakes off the matter. "Don't let Sephiroth get away."

Rude and Elena Salute at the same time. "Yes sir!"

Elena exits the cave, and Rude turns to Cloud's group again.

"As for you, Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his affection for you all... With a new weapon." He tells them, before he follows Elena out of the caves.

"Well then..." Tseng speaks up, his hands folded behind his back. "...Where's Aeris? She's not with you?"

"Aeris isn't with us. She's with the others." Cloud tells him.

Tseng raises an eyebrow. "Oh... Then give her my regards."

He pivots and leaves the cave, as Sparda's group enter from behind.

"Three words describing Elena: Ditzy. Dumb. Blonde." Sparda states. "No offence, Cloud."

Cloud shrugs. "None taken."

"So, we know Sephiroth's headed for Junon..." Aeris says.

Barret heads for the exit.

"And so Junon's where we're all goin'!" He piques up, then exiting with Red XIII and Tifa.

"Be careful, okay? The Turks might still be after you." Cloud says to Aeris.

Aeris smiles with a nod. "I'll be okay. Don't worry."

"I'll keep an eye on her, Cloud. Promise." Sparda tells him.

The Ex-Soldier nods and heads out the cave.

"Our turn guys." Sparda says to his companions, and they also proceed to exit the cave.

----------

Halfway across the plains beyond Junon, the teal-haired teen stops dead in her tracks, and grabs her Dual Rings.

Sparda turns to her. "What's wrong?"

Libra's eyes narrow, but she remains quiet.

_'It could only be...' _Sparda says to himself, but his thoughts are then cut off abruptly, by a whirling sound coming from a nearby acre of trees.

Suddenly, a Shuriken flies right at the group. Libra thinks fast and flings one of her Dual Rings at it; the Shuriken ricochets off course and the Dual ring flies back into its wielder's hand. From the forest several ninja stars fly out, followed by the culprit - a teenage girl of around sixteen years old with raven black hair, dressed in a dark green tank top along with shorts, boots and a large arm guard.

Sparda mutters very quietly to himself as he parries the throwing stars with his Gauntlets. "Yuffie..."

The girl retrieves her Shuriken. "Alright! Who wants some!?"

Aeris raises an eyebrow. "Who're you?"

"Never you mind, sis!" 'Yuffie' shouts. "Who wants to take me on!?"

She prepares to throw the Shuriken again, just as Sparda steps forward.

"Ohoho! You?" The girl says cockily.

"Yeah, me!" Sparda looks almost amused. After which, he draws the Guitar Sword, then simply stances and prepares for the fight.

_BATTLE_

Yuffie crouches and suddenly dashes to the left, then to the right, then more to the right then left in an attempt to confuse and intimidate the youth.

"Gettin scared yet!?" She yells.

Sparda reverts his sword into its dual form.

"Grrr! TAKE THIS! GREASED..." The girl rushes forwards and swings her Shuriken vertically. "...LIGHTNING!!!"

A lightning like beam charges right at the young man. At the last moment before it hits, he swings the two blades together and catches the bolt.

"W-What the!?" The girl cries in shock.

Sparda swings the bolt right back at the ninja. Yuffie attempts to dash side to side again to avoid her own limit, but to no avail - the bolt hits head on and knocks her onto her back.

Aeris claps. "Well done, Sparda!"

The dark-haired youth smiles for a split second, before reconnecting the Guitar Sword back together and withdrawing it.

_BATTLE OVER_

The trio walk over to the fallen ninja, who is attempting to get up.

"Man..." She moans, staggering. "...I can't believe I lost… You jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!!"

"Not interested." Sparda says.

Yuffie smirks. "Thinkin' of running away? Stay and fight! FIGHT, I said! C'mon... What's the matter? You're pretty scared of me, huh!?"

"...Petrified." Sparda tells her carelessly.

She closes her eyes and nods her head. "Hmm, just as I thought. What do you expect with my skills?"

Sparda, Aeris and Libra stand perfectly still for a few seconds, before Libra gives the whole group's response, by simply tossing her hair. After which, the ninja shrugs.

"Good luck to you guys too. If you feel up to it, we can go another time. Later!"

She begins to walk off then looks back.

"I'm really gonna leave! REALLY!"

Sparda sighs. "Wait a second."

"What is it, you still have somethin' for me?" Yuffie speaks up again, grinning. "...Hmmm. So is that it? I know you want my help because I'm so good! You want me to go with you?"

"...That's right." Sparda replies, whilst the two older girls exchange steady glances.

"Heh heh... thought so. You put me in a spot. Hmm, what should I do? But if you want me _that _bad, I can't refuse..." Yuffie nods. "All right! I'll go with you!"

"...Let's hurry on." Sparda says.

He then turns and head towards Junon, along with Libra and Aeris.

Yuffie is surprised. "Huh? Hey... HEY! Wait! I haven't even told you my name... I'm Yuffie! Good to meetcha!"

She then turns away, mumbling to herself.

"Heh heh... Just as I planned. Now all I have to do is... A little this… And a little that… Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk… H-Hey, wait up! Wait for me!"

She then sprints after the other three.

_'And so, another famous face joined the ranks..._

_Yuffie Kisaragi, Ninjaress, future Empress of Wutai, and absolutely obsessed with Materia - both hers and not_

_I knew that she would steal our Materia when we ventured to Wutai, however her role in this game was as vitally important as any other character..._

_Of course I would have to act as if I was non the wiser, lest my identity be known...'_

Aeris sighs in relief, once they are very close to Junon. "We're finally here!"

"C'mon, let's go." Sparda says. "Cloud and the others shouldn't be too long unless they're here already..."

----------


End file.
